Endangered Smurf III: Smurf Warfare
by Nigel Yearning
Summary: The Supreme Commander of the Green Smurf Army fight to save the blue smurfs from the clutches of a Red Smurf Army General.
1. Act I: Chapter I

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter I_

War. War is evolution, and evolution is a continuous battle in the fight for survival. The will to live is needed in order to stay alive, a mistake, no matter how small, can cause death somewhere in the long term. The world is a harsh place, its' a giant arena where one of Mother Nature's greatest creatures duke it out. No species in the planet's 4.5 billion year history fought like Humankind, _Homo Sapiens_, known simply as humans. Throughout their 200,000 year old reign, mankind had fought each other because they were isolated from each other. The cultures and languages performed and spoken don't work well with each other, and so the word evolution changed to war for mankind.

Chernov Reznov thought of this well, as he was half-human himself. He was a member of a 2 year old species simply called Green Smurfs, they were indirect descendents of the familiar blue smurfs humanity both love and despise. When the two species mixed biologically, green smurfs are the by product. No one was sure why the green smurfs were – well, green. Thinking what a green smurf is like was like trying to study the center of Planet Earth, in order to understand fully, you must go back a generation into their human roots.

Gargamel's spell was cast by Chernov's father known mainly as Dimitri, he created Engineer Smurfette, Chernov's mother and combined his DNA with hers in order to create the first green smurf prototype. That prototype was Chernov, and later, 1,000 green smurfs. Five hundred males and the other half were females, they had a reputation of being both cute and deadly. Dimitri's family history took him to years of war and battles, he fought some of his personal battles himself and eventually past on the genes that helped his family survive to this new race.

This race of grass green smurfs stand no taller than the pure-blooded light blue smurfs, they wore mainly M81 woodland camouflage instead of the traditional white. Males wore camouflaged smurf hats and pants awhile females wore camouflaged smurf hat and dresses, some males and females wore green overalls only if they're engineers. Interestingly enough, green overalls were more popular for green smurfettes. Unlike blue smurfs who are bald, green smurfs have a full head of hair. And both the males and females do a poor job of keeping them clean, as their messy and greasy hairs became integrated in the green smurfs personality.

This was all in Chernov's mind as he was focused on defending the Green Smurf Colony, a collection of 10 green smurf villages that formed a unified force, from another species of smurf. Their enemy was the red smurfs, these red smurfs wear brown ushankas, brown jackets, and pants. They were more monsters than smurfs, as they were known for their reputation of being ruthless. No one was sure where they had came from, all the know was that they try to attack the Green Smurf Colony on occasion. A hint of their origins was that they speak mainly Russian, the accent says that they probably came from the Ural Mountains.

Thankfully, the Supreme Commander, Chernov Reznov, made sure that they all fear his face. Standing 10 centimeters tall and wearing a camouflaged jacket and pants, he can send the red smurf armies running back towards wherever they really came from. His role on being a leader will be put to the test once again, as he had dealt with major fighting against the red smurfs about a year ago. It had been awhile, but Chernov was confident that he still had the moves to fight back.

His father's work made sure that the green smurfs were technologically advanced, Chernov held the portable radio to his mouth and pressed the talk button, "Wunderwaffe to Richard, come in, over."

"Go ahead, bro." said Rick, the Lieutenant Commander of the Green Smurf Colony.

"What's the status of your position in the front lines?"

"The red had us pinned down, already lost a few fellows here. Requesting backup, bro."

"Copy. I'll provide you with some sniper cover personally until we can get our armor and artillery divisions in place."

"You sure you can take on an entire army bro?"

"Watch me, over and out."

Chernov was pretty handy with a sniper rifle, his semi-auto SIR sniper mod that fires 2 mm rounds over 500 meters, able to take out anyone with extreme accuracy. In the case of firearms, green smurfs proved to be superior at their rifles and machine guns. Chernov planned to give the red smurfs a reminder of who was boss.

He head across the paved road past several spider-holes as his fellow green smurfs rushed passed them, holding their semi-automatic SIR rifle mods and RS-100 assault rifles. The Reznov Super-rifle 100 rounds as it was officially known was made out of carbon fiber and aluminum with built in red dot scopes, it was designed to be 5 parts or less. It was simple as it sounds. The newer models of the Standard Infantry Rifle simply had three parts: The barrel and loading system, the body, and the trigger and it's components. Newer models were made out of carbon fiber and aluminum, awhile the older models had bodies made out of steel and wood.

Chernov jogged down the road till he reached the front line, an artillery shell from the red smurfs came crashing into a spider-hole nearby. The blast nearly blew out his ear drum, he shrugged it off as he climbed up one of the ancient oak trees that surround and pop-marked the colony, grumbling under his breath in frustration.

Once he reached a high point of a tree, Chernov got into position and set up his rifle on a specially designed tri-pod. Once he was on his belly, Chernov looked through the mil-dot scope and saw his targets. A group of red smurfs armed with crappy SK-47s were coming down no-mans land, a small clearing that was no more than 50 meters across and three times that number long that sits right at the border of the Colony. Typical red smurf strategies involve using their crappy S-74 tanks taking the brute force of the defenses as their infantry come jogging in their rear, it was a foolish move to even have infantry on no-man's land, as machine guns can mow the offensive opponents down awhile riddling them into Swiss cheese. It wasn't smart at all.

Red smurfs aren't the best scholars, but Chernov respected them, his green smurfs are just as incompetent on things other than war. The S-74 tanks ground to a halt, the infantry behind them stopped as well. In order for the tanks to attack properly, they had to remain stationary in order to launch their 12 mm shell. Knowing how long it would take for these tanks to attack and reload after each shot, Chernov decided to take the opportunity to his advantage.

He adjust the scope to the correct distance awhile performing mental mathematical calculations, he loved math almost as much as his girlfriend. When Chernov think he had distance and wind speed tuned in, Chernov took aim at one of the red smurf's heart, then held his breath.

At the pull of the trigger, Chernov fired a round going 3220 KPH. The round hit home, striking the red smurf hard and sending him collapsing onto the ground. His fellow comrades turned their heads and had only a fraction of a second to react when Chernov rapid fired on them, each round he fired was a direct hit, striking the red smurfs in their neck and chest. The last red smurf took the round through the eye and the back of his head turned into a bloody confetti cannon, spraying brain matter and blood everywhere before dropping dead on the ground.

_Well there's a start. _Chernov Thought.

Chernov went on taking pot shots at the other red smurfs as green smurf ground forces went on destroying the S-74 division, he can see the rounds of the triple-barreled 7 mm Panzerschreck stream into view and struck the tanks hard. One by one, the tanks were obliterated, one tank had its turret blown off. Chernov never liked those ugly brown tanks anyway, he only liked its spectacular death sequence. That's what you get for designing the ammunition bay _around _the base of the turret.

"Good work Commander," said Chad, "Now we need some help with a bit of close quarters combat here."

"Your position?" asked Chernov.

"Below you."

Chernov looked down and saw Chad waved at him as he held his fully-auto RS-100 in hand, he rolled his eyes as he puts his equipment away before climbing down the old oak. Once his feet was back on the ground, Chad handed Chernov an RS-100 magazine, "You're so reliable Chad." Chernov said sarcastically.

"Thank you." said Chad.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I know it wasn't."

"That is why I like you green smurfs for being my half-siblings, cause you're all half-wits."

"What about Rachael?"

"Then that means I'm screwed."

Both green smurfs laughed. Now it got serious, "So where's the red smurf force?" asked Chernov.

"Down the road," said Chad, "We best get there or Dashie would take out all the easy targets."

"She always does."

"No duh."

Chernov removed the barrel of his SIR and replaced it with the rifle barrel, then loaded it with the magazine Chad gave him. He checked the ACOG scope on the rifle to make sure it was functioning ok, sure enough it was and always will be, "Let's go Chad." he ordered.

"As you command, Wunderwaffe."

Wunderwaffe was German for "Wonder Weapon," it was given to him directly by his father. Having survived a few battles and skirmishes, he felt like he can obliterate the entire world on command. He almost had the resources to do so, almost. Anyway, the red smurfs that he was going to fight will be armed with the Smurf Kalashnikov 47, the small version of the AK-47. It fires a 1.47 mm round and hold a 30 magazine capacity. The SIR, including its barrel variations, fires 1.18 rounds and so does the RS-100. Like its human cousin, the weapon was made out of wood and steel.

Red Smurfs had a habit of attaching baronets to the ends of the barrels, the weight of the blades makes tip of the rifles heavy and less accurate at longer ranges. Chernov can see that clearly when he approached the group of red smurfs Chad was talking about. They were positioned up on a slightly higher elevation as fellow green smurfs below were firing back, Chernov can see that they were wearing their dragon skin body armor as they should. Chad, being reckless, wasn't.

Chernov held up his rifle and began firing away at the red smurfs, he made sure that each round coming out of his barrel hit what he was aiming for. Once the red smurfs saw him, their eyes went big. Fear, just the way Chernov wants them to think about him. He couldn't help but show an evil grin, and that got the red smurfs running. One red smurf fired his assault rifle wildly at him, all of the rounds missed as Chad ran for cover in a trench, though one round struck Chernov hard in the lower part of his rib. Thanks to his Kevlar clothing and his love for cow milk, the round only gave him a nasty bruise and caused no further damage.

He felt the round hit him, yet he shrugged it off as he returned a round of his own. Chernov's own bullet went through the red smurf's jaw and shot out the neck, he went down instantly.

"You okay bro?" asked Chad as he stuck his head cowardly out of the trench.

"I'm fine." Chernov said bluntly.

"The reds are retreating," said Rick on the radio, "We won!"

"URA!" cheered pretty much hundreds of green smurfs at once over the broadband.

Chernov held up his hand radio and call it in, "Okay comrades," he said, "Let's rap things up and get on with our daily schedule, I wanna be home before sun down."

"Commander," said Rick on the radio, "You best come down to the infirmary."

"What happened?"

"Secretary Of Defense had been shot, the wound looks pretty bad."

"I'll be right over, ETA: 10 minutes."

Chernov puts his radio away and gestured to Chad to come towards him, the green smurf climbed out of the trench and got to his feet, "Come with me." Chernov simply say.

"Why," asked Chad, "Did I screw up?"

"No, because you're a close friend."

"Oh okay."

"Don't forget about me." said a voice.

Chad and Chernov turned to see Dashie, Rick's girlfriend who looked similar to an evil smurfette, came marching towards them. She doesn't appear to be very happy, "I wanna give that Ricky a piece of my mind about-"

"Save it till we get there." said Chernov.

"Fine." scoffed Dashie.

The trio made the walk towards GSV 3, the green smurf village that contains science and medical labs, is where the infirmary was at. Even though there were small medical clinics pop-marked all over the Colony, GSV 3 had the only hospital in the Colony. Every time where major conflict took place in the colony, the hospital is expected to be filled with wounded green smurfs from the fight. It was, however, rare for a green smurf who holds a high status to wind up in the infirmary since their training was somewhat more advanced than the conventional.

Along the way, the green smurfs could hear the pops and spit-fire of guns still going off. The battle was officially over and now small skirmishes fill in the vacuum. Eventually both sides grew tired and decided to head home, though a few would continue fighting until they ran out of ammo or green smurf reinforcements come into play. Chernov rarely partake in such skirmish, sometimes he watches but that's about it.

The green smurfs soon approached the infirmary, which was simply a huge white building with a fat red cross over the entrance. When they got inside, they saw Rick resting his head in his hands as he sat in the main lobby. Something must had gone wrong, "Rick?" asked Chernov.

Rick held his head up and looked at Chernov, there were tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry brother," said Rick, "He's gone, Greg had past away."

That was a major blow, Gregory was one of the best green smurfs Chernov ever had, "How bad were his wounds?" he asked.

"He saved a few green smurfs by throwing himself over a live enemy grenade," said Rick, "We were shocked to find him still alive after his torso had been disemboweled, but he eventually succumbed to his wounds once we got him to the infirmary. I miss him already Chernov."

"He was one of my closest friends," said Chad, "I'm going to miss him."

"He was one of the few green smurfs I ever got along with," said Dashie, "Now what's left are you guys, and that Lizzy brat."

The sense of loss weighed heavily on Chernov, even though he doesn't show it. He sighed and he extended his hand, Rick took it and he was pulled back onto his feet, "Let's head back to the Command Center and sort this all out guys."

"Sure." said Rick nonchalantly.

The green smurfs left the infirmary and headed back to GSV 1, where the Command Center was located. The Command Center was like any ordinary spider-hole, except it was filled with the best communications equipment of the Colony's finest. It was the capital building of the Colony, electronic information sent through wires from one village to the next passes through the Command Center first. Chernov helped set it up himself, officially the Command Center was suppose to be Chernov's home. He actually lives in the Smurf Village, and Rick and Dashie lives in the Command Center instead.

Rick was Chernov's closest friend and brother, in fact Rick was the first green smurf Chernov had ever met in person. He spent a good portion of his first year of life without the knowledge of the Green Smurf Colony until the first Humanoid War broke out, once found he turned the small community into an industrial society. Those were good times, but that was the past, everyone was more focused on the present at the moment.

When the green smurfs walked down the ramp that leads into the Command Center, Chernov opened the door and found the whole place was covered with empty beer and moonshine bottles, again. It was all over the computers, the sides of the walls, the filthy cot Rick and Dashie sleep on, and the large round table at the center of the room, it was an almost unbelievable sight, "Dashie." said Chernov.

"What?" asked Dashie.

"You ever clean up after yourself?"

"I in fact do."

"Then why not all... this."

"Fine, I'll go get a couple of garbage bag."

Dashie left the Command Center grumbling under her breath, Chernov, Chad, and Rick walked in and shut the door behind them. The three sat at the table as Chernov sweep all the bottles on the table onto the floor with his arm, the glass bottles and jugs clatter all over like a million ping pong balls. "Chad," said Chernov, "Would you want to take Greg's job?"

"Me," asked Chad, "Be Secretary of Defense?"

"You're the only person I know who has a similar personality to him, and besides, I owe you one."

"Awe, I'd forgotten about that time where you'd knocked me out cold. It's a real honor brother, but what about my daughter Katusha? I would be so busy working that I wouldn't see her."

"Move into Greg's office, you live _and _work there, like Rick and Dashie here in the Command Center."

"Thank you, you won't regret it."

"If you die too soon, I will. Now go over there and go over Gregory's things, you can have it all, just be careful what you find. Rumor has it he has a store of napalm over there."

"Yes, sir!"

Chad got up and ran out the Command Center with enthusiasm, when he slammed the door behind him a glass bottle over at the wall got knocked over. A moment past before Chernov got up, "I'm going home Rick," he said, "I'll see you some other time."

"Right away?" asked Rick.

"Rachael is probably worried sick about me, I don't want to keep her waiting."

"I guess so."

"She's an interesting smurfette, you can be sure of that."

"What about the arrangements of Greg's funeral?"

"We'll have it within 48 hours at this hour, have it right down the street at the incinerator."

"Okay, bye Chernov."

"Bye."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. Act I: Chapter II

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter II_

As Chernov leaves the Command Center, he heads to his smurfvee parked outside and got inside. He started up its electric engine and the smurfmobile began silently rolling down the road, he didn't bother turning on the radio since Rick probably had his Green Smurf Radio equipment shut off at the moment. He sighed, it had been quite a rough day.

Chernov drove down the paved concrete road and exited the colony onto a dirt road that connects both GSC and the Smurf Village, once on the road, he pressed down on the clutch and picked up some speed. With 10 kilometers to cover, Chernov planned to be home before sunset. As he drove down the road, he passed by ancient oak trees that were half as thick as the Great Oak Tree near the blue smurfs' territory. The dirt road itself blended well with the animal trails of the forest, green smurf designers made sure that no curious humanoid will go snooping about their travel routes.

Along the way back home, Chernov thought about his work, he was a leader, chemist, a writer, and a fatehr. To sum it all up, his work came down to many books he published and archived at the Green Smurf Library, he wondered if anyone ever bothers to read them.

In fact, his work managed to get him into a relationship. Rachael was his overweight blond girlfriend who used to work as a scout and worker for the green smurf logging industry, she wore a camouflaged smurf hat and a pair of green overalls. She had serious muscle that surpasses Hefty's strength and maybe even his. Chernov recalled that Rachael first found out about him from his writing and research books that somehow made it to the Green Smurf Colony under its anonymous years, soon it became an afair to her at first but he managed to return her love once they met in person. When Chernov had a couple of kids with her, they bonded permanently.

Thinking of her made Chernov smile, he rarely smiled at anything else.

Now he must both run a government and support a family at the same time, thankfully he had a lot of friends who are willing to help him in his duties. This wasn't something he should take for granted, and so focused himself running the Green Smurf Colony more. It lead to his kids moving in with The Smurflings, and more time with a little bit of everybody.

Evcen though Chernov does his job well, a part of him felt something was missing, something important that must be done. He wasn't quite sure what it was, he spent a lot of time figuring it out. So far, he became nowhere close to that something.

The forest started to become less barren and full of life as Chernov continued traveling down the well hidden dirt road, the Smurf Village wasn't far now. He felt like he was being pulled out of a world of carnage and into a world of peace and tranquility, or so he thought. That was when he began to hear a loud droning sound of some sort, it sounded like a diesel engine. He knew that sound all to well, he hoped it wasn't what he thought it was, it mustn't. But when he looked into his rear-view mirror, his heart sank, hard.

Behind him was a brown jeep, and in that jeep were three red smurfs. One of them was sitting that the controls of a 2 mm machine gun, among all the red smurfs he had ever face very few ever stood up to him. Those who do are the ones Chernov respect most, he kept his cool as he thought his next move. The wrong move in a game of chest will surely doom the king in the long term, so Chernov had to plan his strategy carefully.

He had his 0.9 mm pistol nearby, but Chernov knew that he won't stand a chance against that machine gun nor endanger the Smurf Village. He had to think of something, and fast. He remembered that he had a stick grenade sitting in the glove compartment, Chernov reached over and opened it. Once he had the stick grenade in hand, Chernov opened up a small door at the bottom of the floor, he carefully removed the cap off the handle of the stick grenade and the little white ball attached to the fuse came out. He pulled hard on the cord and waited for a second, then dropped it in the hole.

The stick grenade exploded when it was at the rear tires of the red smurf's jeep, on cue Chernov slammed on the breaks hard which caused the jeep behind him to slam into his bumper. Once stopped, Chernov grabbed his pistol and got out of his car with lightning reflexes to face his enemy. The two red smurfs sitting up front were stunned, but the red smurf operating the machine gun was ready. He aimed his machine gun at Chernov and fired away, the green smurf ducked as the rounds started bouncing off the bullet proof hood of his smurfvee. When the gunfire stopped, Chernov held up his pistol at the machine gunner and fired, the round went between the red smurf's eyes and he dropped to the ground.

Once the red smurfs sitting at their seats come to their senses, the driver began speaking in rapid fire Russian. Chernov saw the passenger pointing his SK-47 at him, the red smurf fired a few rounds as Chernov ducked for cover again, but not before he got struck in the shoulder with one of the bullets. Interestingly enough, the round failed to penetrate his clothing, again thanks to the Kevlar fabrics. Chernov gripped his shoulder and with one hand awhile aiming his pistol with the other, he saw the red smurf came running around the corner with his SK-47 pointing at him. He simply aimed his pistol at him and fired a round into his neck, the red smurf went down immediately.

Suddenly he felt a sharp blow in the back of his head and his face impacted the ground, when he turned around he saw the last red smurf was about to stab him with his bayonet-equipped rifle. Chernov grabbed the head of the rifle and ripped the gun out of the red smurf's hands with immense strength, the red smurf screamed when his fingers were bent to an unnatural position as the gun fired a round into the air. Chernov tossed the rifle aside and went to work on hand to hand combat, he stuck his thumb between his index and middle finger as he made a fist and delivered a surgical blow in the red smurf's neck.

The red smurf yelped and choked upon the blow, once stunned Chernov jumped up and got onto the red smurf's back. He grabbed his opponent's head and gave it a sharp twist, breaking the red smurf's neck in a loud crack.

Once the threat was neutralized, Chernov got up and watched as the dead red smurf's body twitched for a minute. A nervous system response, it sometimes happens when the brain is disconnected from the rest of the body. Chernov looked at his hands and saw they were still trembling, he made them into fist and slammed them against the hood of his smurfvee. The not-so surprise assassination attempt itself didn't stress him greatly, it was the fact that his life at the Smurf Village and the one in the Colony nearly collided together. It felt someone had taken his nightmare and made it real.

Even though it wasn't the first time, since the smurfs had their run-ins with the reds before. Chernov vowed to make sure the Smurf Village remained neutral, not bothered by the red and green smurf's battles. He didn't want to corrupt them, if they became corrupted then Chernov's purpose being in the Smurf Village is finished. Thankfully that didn't happened, but the shock that it almost did was just as bad. Chernov sat down on the ground against his smurfvee and rubbed his aching shoulder, _Why do I have to deal with this sh#t anyway! _he screamed in his mind.

People who knew him thought he was finally happy when he finally had family to love, truth was he wasn't. His job and his responsibilities made sure that he won't be happy, hit hurts him hard, so hard that his blood pressure reaches the red zone. Chernov took a deep breath and exhaled, it was time to clean up the mess.

He got up and carried the bodies of the red smurfs back into the jeep, then went to work stripping the red smurf vehicle from all intelligence and resources. Chernov even took the guns, its ammunition, and grenades from the bodies of the red smurfs. Once all that was done, Chernov stashed everything of value in the trunk of his smurfvee. Since it was made out of steel and bulletproof material, it didn't even get a scratch. The jeep on the other hand, had its bumper crumbled, a rear tired blown off, and its radiator leaking fluid onto the road.

Chernov wasn't so sure what to do with the vehicle and the bodies, so he got onto the radio at his smurfvee and called it in, "This is Wunderwaffe, we gotta a vehicle on the road between the Smurf Village and the Colony that needs to be removed," he said, "Expect it full of dead bodies of red smurfs, over."

"Copy," said a green smurf, "Sending clean up crew, over."

Chernov got back into the smurfvee and started it up, he drove away, leaving the brown jeep and bodies behind.

**. . .**

Papa Smurf figured that in order for the spell to work, he'll had to add a few more of Luke Macuer. If successful, he'll might have a useful cooking fuel for Greedy to use. He added a couple more of the wild fruit and stir it in place, a chemical reaction occurred when it began to simmer, then boil. By the time it burst into flames, Papa Smurf had a bucket of water ready to put it out. He dumped the water all over the fire and managed to put it out, when the steam cleared Papa Smurf could see only ash remains of his potion.

"Another failure," he sighed, "Best smurf myself a break for awhile."

Being a leader of the Smurf Village was a tough job, and it was a job he performed well. 400 years of experience with alchemy and responsibility made him a great leader. He had only been a papa smurf for at least a century and a half, Chernov on the other had had been a leader for only a couple of years. He saw how unstable he could be when dealing with his own smurfs, the tone he used when they angered him, the punishment he showed for when they performed wrong-doing. Despite his malevolent acts, he performed his job well in the most part. He was more of a drill sergeant than a father in Papa Smurf's eyes, and Chernov thinks so too.

When Rachael gave birth to twins, Cherskey and Nelly, Papa Smurf was surprised how fast they matured into smurflings. It surprised everyone, in fact they remembered their own birth clearly. His role to them was more of a grandfather, though they simply called him Papa Smurf instead of Pappy like Sassette. They were smart, and surprisingly had more common sense too. He rarely saw them do work and chores, in fact they were a rare sight. Chernov was more focused educating them, and he had Rachael do her part as well.

Papa Smurf took out his handkerchief and wiped his face from the perspiration that had collected from the heat, then stuffed it back into his pants. He decided to go out and check on his fellow smurfs. As he turned towards the door, someone knocked on the other side of it. The village leader opened the door and saw Chernov standing there, he looked beat up. Papa Smurf can smell the grass and mud coming off of his body, as usual, Chernov never smile, "Papa Smurf," said Chernov, "You have a moment?"

"I do," said Papa Smurf, "What do you need me for?"

"You're the only smurf I trust the most, so I need you to help me take care of things I brought with me along the way from the Colony."

"Okay Chernov."

Papa Smurf followed Chernov down the dirt path of the Smurf Village, passing by the mushroom homes filled with smurfs who ever staying inside to relax. It was actually almost sunset, Papa Smurf can see the light of the sun was starting to fade, "So how was the problem at the Green Smurf Colony?" asked Papa Smurf.

"Hell." said Chernov.

"I can tell."

"That was from the way back."

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now, I need to get this stash taken care of before I hit the hay."

Papa Smurf followed Chernov back to his smurfvee, which was parked near an outdoor lamp. He had a cord plugged into the engine of the vehicle as the light above the smrufvee bathed the vehicle. Chernov head to the trunk and opened it up, inside was three SK-47, several magazine clips, 4 stick grenades, and a radio set that probably came from a vehicle. Papa Smurf grew accustomed to Chernov bringing in firearms into the village, he does so in secrecy to avoid detection. He didn't want the smurfs to get a hold of such weapons, if they get hurt then its Chernov's fault because he provided them weapons. He wasn't going to let smurf stupidity get the better of them, and so only trust Papa Smurf to carry a rifle.

"Where did you get all this?" asked Papa Smurf.

"Same place where I got the exhaustion, on the road."

Chernov and Papa Smurf each carried a bag of the supplies back towards his home, Chernov's house was like any other mushroom house in the village, all but a few modifications and building materials. His house was made mostly out of concrete and steel, heavily armored to take on a bombing raid. The windows had detachable security bars on the front, and automatic aluminum shutters that encompass the windows with a flick of a switch. The most stunning features were the 60 centimeter smoke stack pipe and a 50 centimeter radio antenna that can shoot lightning.

The design impressed Handy, and soon all of the other smurfs as well when natural disasters strike. At one time, most of the mushroom houses were either destroyed or heavily damage, only Chernov's house remain in remarkably perfect condition. Maybe its because of its steel skeleton and support beams that keep this building afloat, Papa Smurf wasn't so sure.

When they entered the house, Papa Smurf saw these so-called computers lining the back of the wall, between the bedroom and bathroom door. These radio and radar equipment that kept in tabs with the outside world for anything amidst, other wall counters were covered with chemistry equipment. The island counter in the center was covered with journals, papers, flashlights, and a couple of handguns. To the left, there was a couch up against the wall. On its right was Chernov's desk, which gave rest to a typewriter and a lamp. On the left of the couch was Chernov's piano, at some nights he plays beautiful music on there.

"Okay," said Chernov, "Just dump it all on the island table."

As he was told, Papa Smurf dumped all of the contents in the bag all over the wall table as Chernov does the same with his, once everything was on the counter the CB radio began speaking Russian or a little bit. A few seconds later, the radio went silent.

"What happened Chernov?" asked Papa Smurf as he sat down the bag onto the table.

"Gregory, my Secretary of Defense, has died," said Chernov, "Grenade mutilated him."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It gets worse, when I was coming home I was attacked by a red smurf assassination squad. But I took care of them."

"Were you hurt?"

"They peg me in the shoulder with a round, but my clothing stopped the bullet. It still feels sore."

"Let me see it."

"Sure, why not."

Chernov pulled aside the lip that covered the buttons of his jacket and unbuttoned them all, then he took off the jacket to reveal a bad bruise on his left shoulder and abdomen, "I don't know what to say," said Papa Smurf, "Will you be fine?"

"Once Rachael comes around," said Chernov as he placed his jacket on the chair of his desk, "Don't tell the smurfs yet, it's already late. I'll tell them what happened in the morning, maybe even explain the whole story. They might be wondering why Rick wasn't on the radio tonight."

He turned on the HAM radio at his communications equipment, there was nothing but a hissing sound coming from the speaker. "Rick's my closest friend," said Chernov, "Even though I didn't like to listen to his voice on the radio at times, I keep an ear out to make sure he's alright. He was still crying when I last saw him."

"How close were the green smurfs were to Greg?" asked Papa Smurf

"More than you can possibly imagine, each adviser runs one or more green smurf villages. Greg had the most important job, loosing him is like having a monkey wrench in the engine. I already appointed his successor, Chad, he's probably redecorating Greg's office right now."

Chernov slumped onto the couch and Papa Smurf joined him, "I don't know what to do Paps," said Chernov, "My job is killing me, and these red smurfs aren't making things better. One of these days, they're going to call down a hammer right onto my head. And once that happens, the way we view our species will change forever."

"What are you talking about exactly?"

Chernov looked at him and simply say, "When you see what my world looks like without me shielding you from most of it."

"I better go Chernov, I had things that must be done."

"Of course, I'll be here and wait for Rachael. If you see her, can you tell her to come home so I can talk to her?"

"I'll do that."

"Thanks."

Papa Smurf got up and left Chernov's house, "Oh that smurf needs a vacation," he simply say, "I wish I can help him more."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	3. Act I: Chapter III

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter III_

Adrian Dragovich stared at the map on the wall, on it contained a section of the region where both the Green Smurf Colony and the Smurf Village was located. The map was filled with tiny holes from push pins constantly being placed and removed, he thought about getting a new map since the one he had was becoming Swiss cheese. He was sure that their might be geologist and navigation experts still around that could produce a reliable update of the map.

General Dragovich, as he was more formally called, was a red smurf with the highest status possible in the Red Smurf Army. He wore a lime green officer uniform and hat, decorated with embroidered insignias and patches. He grew up in the Ural Mountains somewhere at the middle of the Eurasian continent, where the frigged winters and hot summers made his childhood horrible. Overtime, he managed to become a leader in the red smurf society after the "papa smurf" died from hypothermia, once in power he turned it all into a military dictatorship. Even used the gold Hammer & Sickle with its crimson red background as a logo for the resign.

Tired of the harsh weather, he moved his 10,000 red smurfs over to Western Europe for a better living environment, it was a long journey made short by vehicles since they were a generation ahead in technology from the green smurfs. Two things drove the red smurfs here, gold and technology. The green smurfs they unexpectedly found had both, so the red smurfs attacked them in hope of salvaging some technology. Unfortunately, their were many casualties as the green smurfs held their ground. Dragovich knew that attacking the colony will cost them more than the reward, yet he couldn't control the hate and rage of the red smurfs given to them by generations of foul weather, famines, and disease. He was force to give into their demands on continuing the attacks, damn these red smurfs never learn.

When the army came back from the latest attack, they were covered in bruises and bandages as their cheeks burned with rage or humiliation. It was a sorry sight, no doubt. Dragovich wondered why it was so hard to train them, they were the most stubborn creatures he had ever met, they don't even get along with each other. Only one red smurf so far had been both cooperative and gentle, and that would be Sergei.

Sergei was like any other red smurf by looks and training. The only thing that separated him from his peers was his personality, he's a bit sweet-tempered and loyal. The fellow couldn't stand the sight of blood, so Dragovich pulled him out of infantry duty and made him his personal assistant, even promoting him to Colonel. Good thing too, since the red smurfs were more of a threat to him than the green smurfs. Speaking of Sergei, Dragovich can hear his distinct footfalls echoing out from the halls outside his office. He was always a quiet one, never talks much, and always shy, even his feet were just as quiet.

The door opened and Sergei stuck his head into the room, "Comrade General?" he asked in Russian.

"Dah, Sergei?" replied Dragovich without looking at Sergei.

"You have a moment?"

"Sure, come in."

Sergei stepped into the room and checked if anyone was listening, then closed the door behind him as Dragovich turned towards him, "You know the last battle had been failure, right?"

"Of course I do," said the general, "Word spreads faster than vodka these days."

"What about the assassination attempt of Chernov Reznov?"

_Чернов Резнов, _thought Dragovich, Reznov.

"Had I authorized it?" he asked.

"No, sir."

"I'll be damned, is he dead?"

"No, his attempted assassins are though."

"How foolish was it to go against the Wunderwaffe himself, if they were alive they would be punished for their actions even if they succeed. I do not want to wake up the sleeping bear, they should have known that by now."

"Some thought differently though."

"Yes, only some."

Dragovich thought about Chernov, he never knew who this character was and probably never will for a long time. This green smurf can communicate to his red smurfs, in fact Sergei met him once. Through him, that was how he knew about Chernov. His red smurfs never lived long enough to explain who he was, only rumors spread about the Wunderwaffe. He heard one rumor that he can obliterate the world with a superweapon he had made, few red smurfs that survived a gruesome attack at one of Dragovich's bases told the tale of a bomb that implodes rather than explodes. When the general heard of it, he personally believed it.

He sighed as he glanced at Sergei, with a keen eye he can tell he was scared, "Is there something wrong Sergei?" Dragovich asked.

"They had me report to you about the attack," said Sergei, "They're tired of the failures, they want some strategies from you to-"

"Are they that stupid?"

"I honestly think so, sir."

"Ugh, always when dealing with armies. The risk of defection is high, it's becoming more harder to control them by the day."

"Then why not be a bit more harder on _them_?"

"Dah, Dah, I will. I'm going to go over to them, and knock some sense into them. Yeah, that's what I'm going to do with those field generals. Doing sh#t or absolutely nothing on their part."

General Dragovich approached the window and opened it up, he then stepped out onto the concrete balcony looking over the main Red Smurf base. All of his red smurf conscripts below where wondering out, some of them drunk, there was a small group of them at the far edge of the courtyard doing some sort of brawl. Dragovich frowned, everything shamed him greatly.

The base, Fort Romanov, had been in utter disarray. Dragovich kept his office clean, the dark green walls and the thin burgundy carpet were in tip-top shape, followed by everything else he owned. He used his own back when taking care of his VIP quarters, even washed his own underwear. General Dragovich expected his subordinates to do the same with the rest of the base. Instead, they let everything rot, the barracks, the warehouses, the workshops, practically almost every building, was becoming derelict. The LED lights that illuminated the base this night was also in bad shape, they were either flickering or popped altogether. The red smurfs were at their most vulnerable, the lack of discipline was worse.

Dragovich pulled out his personal air-horn and blown it three times, he repeated the procedure as the red smurfs below began crawling out of the buildings like ants and arrange in a square formation in front of the bunker. Within no time, the whole courtyard was filled with red smurfs awaiting orders. Sergei handed Dragovich a microphone and took a deep breath.

"Fellow comrades," he said, "Explain to me the state of this fort. I expect discipline and you fail your daily chores in keeping this place in good condition? Do you realize that the green smurfs, even though we out number them 10 to 1, can defeat us due to the current state of this base?"

Some red smurfs below began murmuring among each other, "You wonder why we failed at our latest attack?" he continued, "It's because our sh#t is breaking down, our tanks and guns, and everyone of you reds are drowning in vodka. Well most of you, anyway. Tomorrow, every single one of you conscripts will clean this base up. Patch up every crack and dispose of all of the trash, there will be no alcohol until Fort Romanov is in perfect condition!"

All the red smurfs below began to boo and rage, it looked like it was about to become a riot. Dragovich's personal guards stationed around the base were probably clutching their rifles at this moment, so he took out his pistol and raised it up hi in the air, then fired. The gunshot silent all who heard it, and soon it became quiet once again in Fort Romanov.

"That's an order," said Dragovich, "If you get this done, then I'll attend all of you in the next attack. In fact, I'll sponsor the next battle myself."

"URA!" cheered the red smurfs.

"Everyone get to bed, we have a busy schedule this week. Dismissed."

As all the red smurfs returned to their barracks, Dragovich head back inside as Sergei followed, "Sergei," said Dragovich, "During this time, I'm going to train you for leadership."

"You will?" asked Sergei.

"Yes, I need some more reliable staff anyway. I'll make sure I'll beat all the weaknesses out of you, period."

"I don't know what to say."

Dragovich placed his hand on Sergei's shoulder as a sign of friendship, "Say nothing."

**. . .**

Rachael walked down the path towards home, she was tired from the chores she had to do. Carrying things around had been a struggle, even though she beat Hefty at her own game all the energy had been zapped right out of her like a battery. She hated the job, yet got it done within a few hours. It wasn't a matter of hate, she had been performing almost the same routine for 3 days a week. No one ever rewarded her with anything, no one. Sometimes she felt unappreciated, maybe it was because she was heavy.

No, she was healthy as a horse. She will probably need it when the snow starts falling, Rachael hoped the winter would come, it was the only time she ever relaxes. Rachael thought about Chernov and the way he takes good care of her. She understood Chernov more than most smurfs, since she was always by his side. The responsibilities he must perform in order to keep the Colony afloat, and the responsibility on making sure that the smurfs won't pick up bad human traits. He was probably over doing his job, getting things more done than necessary.

At some nights Chernov couldn't sleep, he always stays up until 4AM and sleep till noon. Without him in bed left her feel cold, and that scares her. Chernov never seemed to explain much of his problems, he always has his excuses, even having his reasons so. Rachael wanted to help her, but Chernov was the most stubborn green smurf she had ever met in her entire life.

She remembered it clearly now, yes, it was that day when their father introduced the colony to the Smurf Village. It was evocative, it told Chernov he wasn't alone in the world. At the time, Rachael and her brothers and sisters were actually blue smurfs. Regular light blue smurfs that appear no different to the smurfs in the village, she remembered what it was like to be a male.

To her, it was all taboo, but thankfully it was only a vivid memory. When she first knew of Chernov, Rachael didn't thought much about him, no feelings whatsoever. Three weeks later after their father had settled the Colony in its present-day boundaries, something strange occurred. The smurfs started to turn into a grass green color, the same color as the fake swoofs when Papa Smurf cast a spell to make Dreamy think he was on another world. Then the hair came in, Rachael remembered the fuss started to grow on her bald head, and eventually led to messy blond hair.

The final stage of their transformation was gender, half of the green smurfs turned into green smurfettes. The males mutated, their bodies no longer pear shaped but more straight and cylinder-like. The females found themselves with their current female indicators, Rachael didn't mind her transformation as it felt right for her. The young green smurf race saw that they were witnessing speciation before their very eyes, and so changed their clothing from white to camouflage and green.

Things got more diverse, different hair colors and weight variations. Rachael packed on the pounds in thought of famines, it wasn't easy to do but thanks to the steady diet of meat that was introduced she succeeded. It resulted in her being fond of the feel of her own flesh, mainly that pot belly of hers. No matter, she wanted to be herself and this is her choice she made. When the green smurfs discovered sexual reproduction, the 2nd generation came around about 4 months later. Rachael decided not to have children, she thought she wasn't fit to be a mother.

That all changed one day when Rick brought in some books from his scouting days, they were from the Smurf Village. It wasn't clear how he gotten a hold of them at first, but Rachael learned that he took them without asking. Turns out they didn't miss them, the blue smurfs simply printed out more. Rachael and several green smurfs went through the books and she found a few about Chernov Reznov. Curiosity is all the incentive it took for her to have feelings for him. Upon reading his books, she discovered that he speaks of how nature performs her work and how to manage resources properly. His words had magic to them, Rachael was under his spell of affair.

Every time she thought about him, her heart fluttered like a butterfly. Rachael never spoke up about her feelings to him, she was nervous at everyone else's opinion. Word got out though, and thankfully it wasn't the end of the world. After a full year of life, Chernov managed to come to the colony. Her heart raced when she saw him, a heart attack nearly happened there. Rachael mustered up the courage to meet him in person, by coincidence she met him at his most embarrassing moment. Once Chernov took notice of her, Rachael didn't knew what to say.

She played along by following his orders as he was settling in as the Commander of the Green Smurf Colony, later that night Chernov came up to her and returned her love and rewarded her with sex. He admitted later that he wanted to start a family to call his own, Chernov just needed to find that special someone to love. Rachael just happened to be that special someone, she could feel herself blushing under his words.

What she hadn't anticipated that she'll see him at his worse, Rachael didn't knew how bad it was until it was too late. Realizing she would probably never get a 2nd chance at love, she tried her best to keep Chernov happy. She soon learned she didn't have to do much anyway. Remembering the pregnancy and birth with Cherskey and Nelly helped solidify the relationship, and soon he changed remarkably.

Yet old habits still look out behind his eyes, Rachael saw it clearly in his green eyes. A part of him wanted to give in and die, thankfully that part of him relaxed when Rachael gave it a little kiss on the forehead. Thinking about him still make her heart beat and her stomach flutter.

By the time Rachael reached home, she opened the door and found Chernov sleeping off one hell of a day on the couch. When she closed the door, Chernov stirred and looked up at her, "I was dreaming of you." he said.

"I was thinking of you too." she said in response.

He sat up on the couch and sighed, "Hard day," he said, "I keep seeing that cyan after-color from seeing the color red wherever I look."

Rachael noticed the bruise on Chernov's shoulder, that was when she got worried, "What happened to your shoulder?" she asked.

"Red smurfs," said Chernov, "Who else?"

She sat next to him as he placed his arm over her shoulders, "Did they shoot you?" she asked.

"Yeah, you came to mind when they did. But I was already upset upon leaving the Colony, cause Greg had died."

Rachael shot up and looked at him in shocked, "He what!"

"Grenade disemboweled him and he died minutes later," said Chernov, "He was gone before I could even said goodbye."

She felt the tears breaking through past her eyes, Rachael rested her head on Chernov's good shoulder as he hugged her, "There there," he said, "He was a good friend."

"I hadn't even seen him in a long time!" sobbed Rachael.

"I was afraid of never seeing you again hours ago."

Chernov held Rachael's face up to his eyes and wiped away the tears with a handkerchief, "He gave his life to save others," he said, "I promise to do the same to you."

"You had fulfill that promise several times."

"Just be with me till the end and consider your debit be paid. I love you, you know."

Chernov and Rachael kissed each other in the mouth and held it for a long time, then the two retracted, "How about we go on vacation," he said, "Just you and me, alone time away from the daily stresses. If life is short, then I wanna spend as much time with you as much as possible."

"What about the kids?" she asked.

"They're becoming adults in a few years, I see them starting to show maturity. Some time this week, we'll get together with the kids and get to know our world a little more. I want them to have the map of Earth in their heads by the time they become fully independent, that way they won't ever get lost no matter where they are."

"That will be a tough challenge."

"It won't take 500 years like Grandpa Smurf, but just 500 minutes."

Chernov got up and took Rachael with him to the bedroom to sleep off the night, looks like she won't be sleeping in a cold bed after all.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Act I: Chapter IV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter IV_

The next day, Chernov called up a meeting with the entire Smurf Village before breakfast and announced what happened yesterday. They were all stunned, like deer caught in the headlights of an 18 wheeler. They also further heard about the news from Rick on the portable radio, and found out about the successor. Chernov planned to get some important things done today, and he plans to bring some blue smurfs with him in order to do it. Chernov thought about Miner, since he's going to need him for a special task he must get done about salvaging the resources of the land for the Green Smurf Colony and the Smurf Village.

He went around the entire village and managed to locate Miner Smurf, who was just coming back from breakfast. When Miner took notice of Chernov, his speech seemed to be caught in a knot, "You have a moment Miner?" asked Chernov.

"Well, um yeah, yes I do." said Miner.

"I need someone with skills like yours, since this might be major we'll might fill our mineral stores for a few months."

"Okay, what needs to be smurfed?"

"The green smurfs had located a Copper deposit a year back, it isn't that far from here so it would only be a short drive. Noticing that our copper levels are getting a bit low, we'll probably need to get this done before the weather freezes on us."

"So we're going to mine some copper?"

"Yes, you won't need to use a pickaxe. The green smurfs had machines that we can just haul the ore outta there, and we're going to bring the ore back after we purify it on sight. Its going to take us all day, but I have ways of speeding up the process."

"Did you ask Papa Smurf?"

"He said yes, as long as I don't bring you back covered in bandages. If you have anything that needs to be done, now's the time to do so."

"I'm pretty much free all day."

"Then lets go, just you wait when you see this mine, it's a bit bigger than what you can imagine."

"Will we get lost?"

"Safety procedures had been carried out, which is also worth seeing as well."

Miner followed Chernov out to his smurfvee where he got into the passenger seat and buckled in, Chernov hopped behind the wheel and started up the engine before driving off. As they head down the road, Miner sit tightly in his seat, the candle on his hat seemed to had melted itself into place. Chernov knew that the mines could have methane gas, which had a tenancy to accumulate at the highest point possible, built up within its corridors. He planned to give Miner a flashlight to avoid the risk of spontaneous combustion, which would no doubt be the end of them.

The copper mine was 2 kilometers away from the Smurf Village, the entrance to the copper mine sits in the edge of a green smurf outpost which was half the size of the village. The size of the mine itself was thought to extend 130 meters in all directions, which was longer than the Smurf Village. The mine had been in service since the end of the Humanoid Wars a year ago, the copper extracted from the mine was mainly used for making wires, cooking pots, electronic circuits, armored vehicles, and plumbing pipes. Due to the antibacterial properties of copper, handles door knobs and even the grips of firearms were plated with a sheet of copper to help kill bacteria that can be transferred by touch.

When the smurfs reached the outpost, the green smurf guard waved them on through, "Wow," said Miner Smurf as he gazes at all the buildings of the outpost, "What are all these buildings for?"

"Most of the buildings are for refining the copper," explained Chernov, "Removing all of the impurities from the metal. The rest of the buildings are either living quarters or cafeterias."

Chernov parked the smurfvee and the two got out. They head over to the entrance of the copper mine, which was simply a large maw in the side of a small mountain. Once they reached the entrance, they head inside the cave where a green smurf wearing overalls and a green hard hat was busy going over things on a clipboard. He looked up and saw the the two smurfs approached, "Looks like you brought a friend Chernov," he said, "Miner Smurf, right?"

"Yup," said Chernov, "You have a couple of hard hats?"

"Yeah, they're over at the shelves right here."

The constant noise coming from down the mine was loud, a lot of banging and clanging. The sound of an explosion followed by the rushing of air flowing past them told Chernov that it was really busy, and dusty. Looks like this won't be a manual form of mining, more like incendiary.

Chernov grabbed a green hard hat with an electric lantern and handed it to Miner, "Put it on," said Chernov, "These mines are more dangerous than the ones you're used to."

"Is it safe?" asked Miner as he took the hard hat.

"Multiple emergency exits are all over the place, including several safe rooms designed for long term burial. The only thing that makes it dangerous was the explosives, which is why I chose you over Jokey."

Miner Smurf took off his smurf hat and put on the hard hat, then turned on the electric lantern, Chernov removes his camouflaged smurf hat and also puts a hard hat on. He went digging around the shelf and pulled out a couple of respirator masks, then handed one to Miner, "Helps filter out the air from dust going into your lungs," said Chernov, "Also it helps remove the deadly Carbon Monoxide from the air and converts it into breathable Co2, it will save your life in both the short and long term. It should have a comfortable fit over your face, it took weeks to prefect the masks."

He took the mask and tried it on, "Wow," said Miner as the mask muffles his voice, "It fits nicely over the nose."

"Let's go." said Chernov.

Chernov puts his gas mask on and the duo head down the mine, slowly but surely the mine was now void from outdoor light. It was another world alright, a world only lit by LED electrical lighting from lamps and helmet flashlights. As they walked down into the earth, the rail cart system they followed had a cart coming up and down every two minutes. Sometimes there were green smurfs wearing green hard hats and masks riding them, either into or out of the mine.

It wasn't long before Chernov and Miner reached the back of the mine, where the green smurfs were finished scooping up the loose ore off the ground via bulldozer. Once the last cart was loaded with copper ore, it was sent down the rail road out of the mine. "Okay Miner," said Chernov, "See those marked circles on the cave wall?"

"Yeah."

"Drill a hole through the center with that mining drill right there, just continue drilling until the entire drill bit is into the wall then pull it out. Just be careful, its a bit heavy and it may kick back once you back it out."

"What are we smurfing exactly?"

"We're going to prepare the wall for detonation, hadn't you sensed the explosion from the mine earlier."

"I do, I hadn't thought much of it until now. I'm a little scared Chernov."

"Don't worry, this is just a procedure you weren't used to. The chance of surviving a cave in is far greater here than your mines."

"That's what I need. Okay Chernov, I'll do what you say."

One of the green smurf workers handed Miner a mining drill, with a little assistance Miner began to drill through the rock with ease. Once the tip of the drill was fully inside the rock wall, Miner reversed it and pulled the drill out. It nearly shot out of his hands when it was removed from the wall, just what Chernov said would happen. He repeated the procedure for all of the marked areas until he was done, "Now what?" he asked.

Chernov tossed him a bundle of dynamite, "Put one in each of the holes you made," he said, "Then I'll show you how to wire them."

Without question, Miner inserted each stick of dynamite into the holes. Under the dim lighting of the cave, Chernov showed him how to wire the dynamite with the electric fuses. Once everything was set, Chernov signaled everyone to back off. The workers gathered up all of the mining tools and heads out of the area as Miner and Chernov followed them, "Okay," said Chernov as he laid down some cording, "20 meters should be enough, you wanna do the honors Miner?"

"Sure."

Chernov handed Miner the detonator, and he counted down, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, fire in the hole!"

He pressed the button, nothing happened, "Oops," said Chernov as he flipped a switch on the detonator, "I forgot about the safety switch."

Miner pressed the button and heard a loud explosion blast past him, followed by a gush of wind as dust was kicked up all over the place, "There we go," said Chernov, "Now let me show you how to do the bulldozer so we can move the ore to the carts."

Chernov led Miner back down the cave, at the end was loads of rubble all over the place. The rubble had green stains visibly present on the rocks, "Copper," said Chernov, "Actual copper in its natural form."

"I can tell what copper looks like." said Miner.

"Then you should have no problem looking for it in this cave."

Once the bulldozer was brought back into the area, Chernov had Miner climb into the driver's seat and gave him a quick lesson on the controls. Then Miner began cooping up the copper ore and dumping them into mining carts once they start rolling in, workers nearby scoop up the rubble that missed the cart and threw them inside before sending it back down the complex system of rails as another mining cart rolled in. Miner filled that one as well and repeated the process until all of the loose ore was removed, "Okay Miner," said Chernov, "You did good, let's repeat the procedure for about an hour and then we'll move on to refining."

"Okay Chernov," said Miner, "You're the boss."

**. . .**

An hour went by as Chernov and Miner emerged from the copper mine, they were both covered in green dust and brown dirt from the mines. Miner pulled off the mask and took in a deep fresh of air, "That was hard work," he said, "How long do green smurfs do this?"

"Green smurf miners work all day every week," said Chernov as he removed his gas mask, "They both live and work here, its almost like a community. Getting copper is what keeps them going, since its almost like gold. Now, to the refineries."

Chernov and Miner put their smurf hats back on and head off into one of the refinery buildings, there they saw a large furnace awaiting them, "We're going to melt down the ore into some molds," said Chernov, "Forming sheets of copper, its very simple only for a pro, so I'm going to show you how its done."

The ore first enter the building from a chute that comes from outside, next the ore was dumped onto a conveyer belt which carries the ore to the furnace which was super heated to 1,085 degrees Celsius into a liquid. Once the large melting put is full, the copper is then carefully poured into molds where they would harden and become sheets of copper. Chernov taught Miner how to perform the job awhile both were in the safety of their own insulated heat repelling suit, they perform the job for half an hour until they got about a dozen or so plates made.

Once that was done, they return controls to the regular workers and removed their suits. Carefully, a machine lifts up one of the molds and dunked it into chilled water. The impressive Leidenfrost effect that occurred created a huge plume of steam which rise to the ceiling, once it was cooled down Chernov guided the machine to pull it out of the water and set it down on the concrete floor.

He instructed Miner to break the mold apart with a sledgehammer, which he did so. Miner took a sledgehammer from the nearby rack and slammed it hard on the mold, the mold gave and crumpled into large chunks, revealing a brown sheet of copper inside. Chernov approached the sheet of metal and hovered his hand over it to see if it was cooled down enough to handle, "Okay," said Chernov, "Put on some gloves, we're going to carry this into the next building."

"Okey-dokey, Chernov." said Miner.

Both Chernov and Miner Smurf put on some leather gloves and the two carried the sheet of copper outside and into the next building across the road, there they come across several rows of chemical baths which was being used at the moment. "Copper plating," said Chernov, "We're going to use some chemistry and electricity to get the most pure form of copper possible out of this sheet. They'll be placed in a bath of hydrochloric acid, then a charge ripped through two electrodes in the bath. The copper will break up and be drawn to the opposite terminal to form a pure sheet of 99% copper."

"Amazing." said Miner.

"Of course, the process could take up to 10 hours to a few days, which is why most of the buildings here are chemical baths alone. We're going to skip the waiting time by placing this sheet of copper into a vat of acid, then bag ourselves an already finished plate."

Chernov hooked up the plate to a machine and had it lifted up into the air and safely into a vacant vat, once the copper plate was firmly in the slot of a terminal Chernov detached the plate and pulled the machine away. He then flipped the switch to an electric current, then guided Miner out of the building. "There might be another building with some fresh set of copper somewhere." he said.

He managed to find a building whose copper is ready to be extracted, Chernov and Miner head inside and approached one of the lifting machine. "Turn off the switch to that vat." said Chernov.

Miner did so as Chernov hovered the machine's hydraulic arm over the vat and lowered it, it attached itself to the copper plate inside then pulled it out of the vat. The copper plate had a beautiful shining tan colored to it, it was quite pure. Chernov moved the plate into a bath of soap and water which removed the acid off the plate, then pulled the plate out and lowered it to the floor. "There we go," said Chernov, "We're done."

"Is there something else we should do?" asked Miner.

"Yeah, there's a lot more work that must be done. We gotta get this sheet of metal to the loading bay where it will be loaded on some trucks which will take the copper to the Green Smurf Colony for processing, that alone will take the remainder of the day."

"So we're going to the Green Smurf Colony?"

"You want to?"

"I'm not so sure."

"Well, Greedy needs a new cooking pot and Papa Smurf needs a new caldron. In fact some handles needs to be replaced on some of the front doors of mushroom houses. You can do a lot of things with copper, and there's plenty of copper in the world that will last for millions of years."

"Is the process mining metals in an industrial scale similar to smurfing copper?"

"Yeah, with a few differences. Mixing some metals together will give you alloys, humans really like to use shiny metals for currency, such as gold. I bet they don't know the true value of gold, wait until they see our Tesla coils, they're going to be horrified when we shoot lighting at them. Serves them right for using smurfs for alchemy."

"Chernov, can we go home now? I really need a bath."

"That copper dust on you might act as a good shampoo, helps remove all that bacteria that causes infections. Okay then Miner, let's go home and get washed off. Once clean, you and a few other smurfs are coming with me to go fetch some supplies from the Colony. Papa Smurf has a busy schedule for us this week."

"Okay Chernov. Oh by the way, can you get me one of those hard hats? Instead of green, can it be white?"

"I will Chernov, that will be your reward for helping me."

"Thanks."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	5. Act I: Chapter V

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter V_

Brainy Smurf kept writing, he was getting close to finishing his new book. It was going to be a masterpiece, he just knows it. Chernov had helped him with his work, he was just like Papa Smurf as a mentor but with a wider field of intelligence. He had done his homework, relied on knowledge past down from generation to generation. With this knowledge, he managed to share some of it with Brainy who was eager to get some manuals in the smurf market.

Pre-green smurf books of Brainy's were mostly filled with random jumbles of words, sentences, and paragraphs, his message couldn't get across to his readers very well and his books remained closed to many. But when Chernov and then the green smurfs came around, that all started to change. Brainy was an intellectual and critic by nature, Chernov had a similar thinking in some ways. So he helped Brainy with his work, and even taught him how to use a typewriter to speed up the process.

Chernov mostly revised and re-edit most of Brainy's work, making sure that they were polished until perfected as he would say. Brainy hates it, to him his work was more of Chernov and less of him, but he knows he's right. Soon manuals about survivalism, culinary, fishing, gardening, and alchemy were made, even a new book about Quotations. These books gave Brainy most of the credit, it also said they were co-authored and revised by Chernov Reznov. Thanks to the Wunderwaffe, Brainy finally managed to get his message across to his peers in a way he couldn't possibly imagined.

It wasn't long before Brainy started to received respect from his peers, and now instead of being kicked out of the village at an average of once a week, now trickled down to once a month. For Brainy, he only received some respect from the smurfs, they still viewed him as a nuisance. His speeches were also revised by Chernov, he said that Brainy acts like a genius but doesn't behave as one. Brainy's mind tried in vain to process what Chernov had said, but Chernov finally got to work on helping him with his speeches.

First Chernov gave him a thick dictionary that was up to date in the human world, and had Brainy read every single page. It took about a couple of weeks, and that first step was soon completed. The second was the tone of voice, Chernov instructed Brainy not to sound smart but instead, speak with a confident voice. Of course, Brainy didn't knew what he meant right away, but when he heard Papa Smurf made a speech one morning the message finally went home.

Surprisingly Brainy stopped making speeches for 6 months, and instead focused on writing his manuals and helping Papa Smurf with experiments. He saw the life in his words taking shape, Brainy knew it was coming together smoothly, he can feel it. Thanks to the help of the green smurfs who managed to archive some of his books at their massive library, his words reached a wider audience.

He pulled out the last page of his latest chapter out of the typewriter and sat it with the rest of his manuscript, it had already been a week since he first started and now he had several chapters already collected. Amazing that Chernov does some of his chores without Papa Smurf's knowledge, giving him more free time to write his new book. Interesting that no one was bugging him, usually Clumsy comes around just to say hi, he wondered what he was doing these days.

Brainy had been working all day, he needed a break. So he got out of his chair and made his way to the front door, when he opened it the afternoon sunlight was let in. His eyes burn as they took a moment to adjust, he took a gulp of fresh air and sighed. Sometimes it's easy to forget the world outside of your own.

The outside world was quiet, though there was some faint noises probably made by the smurfs there wasn't anything going on. Brainy stepped out into the full brightness of the sun and looked at his own shadow, he saw that it was entirely underneath him – indicating that it was high noon. There was much to be done, he had to stretch his legs. So he closed his front door and locked it, the manuscript of his must be protected.

His best friend could be at home, since there wasn't many smurfs out this morning. He saw Dabbler and Painter from the corner of his eye, but they walked out of sight before he could focused on them. Clumsy, he knew, should be at home or somewhere around the Smurf River. Those places are his usual dwellings, if not there, then he had no clue about his whereabouts.

So Brainy heads for Clumsy's house first, he always starts there when he wants to see him. After a short walk, Brainy reached Clumsy's house and knocked on the door, "Clusmy?" he called for him, "Are you there?"

No answer.

"Clumsy?"

He knocked again, still no answer.

Clumsy often keeps his door unlocked, so Brainy opened it and stuck his head inside. The mushroom house was empty, Clusmy wasn't home. _He could be at the River Smurf after all. _Brainy thought.

Brainy closed the door and head off to the Smurf River. The Smurf River was an important source of freshwater and food for the Smurf Village, it had been tampered and polluted by humans who were disposing of unwanted waste into the river system, which in turn made the smurfs ill. The river happens to border the Green Smurf Colony, so the green smurfs installed a hydroelectric dam at their part of the river in an effort to harness its renewable energy. Since the river flows from the Colony, the river at times smelled like well used socks from green smurfs bathing in the river once a month.

Thankfully, Chernov's water treatment system that purifies raw smurf sewage helped provide the Smurf Village with freshwater and fertilizer. A specialized filter sucks up sewage from the village septic tank and purifies it, once its ready for drinking the water is then sent to the mushroom houses for the smurfs to use on demand. It was a clever continuous system, and Papa Smurf liked it.

This helped the smurfs become less dependent on the river for drinking water, though it gave Handy and Chernov a bit of work for cleaning the filters once in awhile, which was no fun obviously. It wasn't long before the green smurfs had gotten together a trading route on the river with the Smurf Village, they used steamboats whose engines helped move the boats up river. The steamboats were made mostly out of copper due to its ability to fight rust, their measurement tend to be about a meter long and a half meter wide. These steamboats were armor-plated and equipped with flamethrowers and 3 mm machine guns to fight back folks who threatens its safety.

Even though there wasn't much to trade with the Smurf Village, the green smurfs gleefully shipped them tools and useful equipment. With the steamboats coming into the Smurf Village, a port was made to help ease the burden of loading and unloading cargo. Brainy helped build the port, until he got kicked off the job for giving_ advice_. Those days are far behind him now, he was more eager to look forward than to look back.

As Brainy left the village, he head to the Smurf River and trailed up it. After getting a few meters upstream, he saw what he was looking for. Clumsy was just sitting on a rock watching the river flow past him, he looked like he had been there for hours. "Clumsy!" called out Brainy as he made his approach.

Clumsy jumped and shot around, only to be relieved it was Brainy, "You scared the smurf outta me Brainy, I wasn't expecting anysmurf to come by."

"You should always be on your guard Clumsy," said Brainy, "There's no telling who may be smurfing."

"I should, but its so peaceful here that I can easily get off track. How's the book by the way?"

"Its going well, I'd just finished another chapter. I decided to take a break and meet up with you this afternoon."

"I'd been here all day Brainy, I'm sure Papa Smurf won't mind."

"No smurfs came by to ask where you were, truth was, no smurfs came by at all."

"Everything seemed calm this week, besides the battle at the Green Smurf Colony, nothing happened around here that was so serious."

Brainy sat down next to Clumsy and watched the river as it flows by, the green smurfs did a fine job at treating the water till it was purged from all pathogens, "I always wonder Clumsy," said Brainy, "About what's the purpose of life in our world."

"What do you mean Brainy?" asked Clumsy.

"Everyday, we live in peace and tranquility as Chernov put it. Sure we had natural disasters and the occasional Gargamel plan, the green smurfs seemed to have more action going on around their home. They had more fun and more opportunities to do whatever, here everything is a bit out in the open and a little tight. I just don't know it, but it feels like something is going to happen, something big."

"How big?"

"That the thing, I just don't know _how _big."

Brainy and Clumsy can see black smoke rising up into the sky up the Smurf River, within moments a green smurf steamboat came lumbering down the river with ease. The smurfs watched it float by as its green smurf captain was chowing down on some lunch, the green smurf's feet were propped up on the steering wheel as he sat back in a wooden chair. He was oblivious to Brainy and Clumsy as he slowly passed them without incident. Just when the steamboat fully past them, Brainy could see its name: _Sea Dragon_, painted in orange letters on its bare copper hull.

As the steamboat floated out of sight, Brainy got up to his feet, "You wanna go for lunch?" he asked.

"Sure." said Clumsy.

**. . .**

"Put in some muscle Sergei," ordered Dragovich, "Or else you'll have to do it for another hour."

"Yes sir!" said Sergei.

Already Sergei had to ran 50 meters and do a hundred push-ups at Fort Romanov, now he was doing pull-ups just outside the VIP bunker. He used all of his strength to repeatedly pull his chin above the bar and lower as Dragovich yells into his ear, and a radio blaring out Russian folk music at high volume in the other. He didn't understand fully why General Dragovich had to perform physical training exercises, "To beat the weakness out of you." is all he would say.

It was 15 degrees Celsius outside, and he wasn't used to wearing only brown pants and a ushanka in cold weather. His skin seemed more redder now, either that was from the freezing cold or his blood trying to burn his flesh inside out. Sergei knew he had to keep going, he hoped his reward is a hot bath and a massage from the red smurfettes. Oh wait, there aren't any red smurfettes at Fort Romanov. So much for a love life.

"Come on!" spat Dragovich, "If you get into hand to hand combat with a red smurf, or worse, a green smurf, then you'll be beaten into the ground and that will be your grave."

Sergei summoned up the remaining strength he had in him and accomplished his 500th pull-up, then did something amazing, he lift his chest above the bar before doing a handstand. Somehow his ushanka didn't fall off, maybe his sweat glued it in place. He couldn't help but giving off a short roar before panting like crazy, "Overkill," said Dragovich, "But its worth another 500 pull-ups, you did good Sergei, the Motherland will be proud of you!... You can get down now."

Sergei made 180 degrees on the bar and flopped face first on the ground, it looked like it hurt but Sergei felt no pain whatsoever. Dragovich helped him up to his feet and handed him a bottle of vodka, "You did good kid," he said, "One of these days Sergei, you might be a general yourself."

"I need a decade or so more years of experience before I would get that kind of job."

"Not that many years, all you have to do is to succeed a few simple test than you get the job. It all has to do with strategy and execution in battle, everything else is on the job training."

"Damn."

"Being only 7 centimeters tall has its advantages... and disadvantages, know your strategy and you'll be able to get the job done."

"Your 10 centimeters tall, is it harder or easier for you?"

"Both."

"I don't get it."

"Neither do I."

Sergei chuckled as he took a swig of vodka, "Head inside Sergei and get washed up," said General Dragovich, "We got some recon to do in a couple hours, and I want you to learn how to be a scout. I can't have these red smurfs blunder into battles without knowing what's there first, you'll do your troops proud with the knowledge you provide."

"Thanks Comrade General."

"Your welcome."

As General Dragovich head off to tend to other matters, Sergei head off back to the VIP quarters, his legs threaten to limp with each step he took. He managed to get inside without anyone noticing, then made his way down several hallways up to the bathroom on the top floor. It was as private as it can get, no red smurf, not even a guard, was near here. Once Sergei stepped inside the bathroom, he shuts and locks the door behind him.

The bathroom had a red and black tiled floor, some red and black tiles, a single toilet, a sink, and a round bath tub that can be mistaken as a hot tub that was filled with pre-heated water. The bath tub was built into the floor, above it was a shower head into the ceiling. Painted on the bottom of the bath tub was a black hammer & sickle, which seemed a bit like a show-off to Sergei. He wondered why the lighting had to be the color red, even though it was appropriate with the bathroom style. Nonetheless, he had some bathing to do.

Sergei first unloaded his excrement into the toilet, and after some wipes with toilet paper he flushed it all down the drain. Once that was done, he took off his pants and then his ushanka, revealing a head full of brown hair trimmed to a howl-haircut. He tossed his clothes into the laundry chute as he stepped into the bathtub, Sergei did not hesitate as he fully immerse himself inside it.

He felt worm as his tensed muscles stood down, being in the bath tub brought back memories from his childhood, it remind him of the hot springs in the Ural Mountains. As a red smurfling, there was nothing more pleasant than this luxury. In red smurf culture, a hot spring was as close as you can get to heaven. It was easy to see why, since it provides relief from the harsh winters.

His mom took him to the hot spring at least once a day during the winter months, when comfortable, red smurfs are more sociable. Sergei knew Dragovich personally when they were kids, actually met him at the hot springs. It was the only time he had ever saw him naked. Besides that, they became good friends from that day on. When adulthood came around, the Elder Smurf was becoming more weak, he was well cared for by Dragovich but there wasn't more that can be done. Sergei was with Dragovich that day when the Elder Smurf died, the autopsy said it was from kidney failure.

Among all the red smurfs who teased and despised Sergei, Dragovich supported him, and he returned that support by helping him succeed the Elder Smurf. Once the old papa smurf was buried, Kira Dragovich became a general and turned the red smurf society around. With primitive, yet advanced technology, he, Sergei, and the rest of the red smurfs were taken over to Western Europe in a quest for a better life. Even when living conditions improved, old habits die hard. Sergei didn't miss the Urals one bit, he was glad to leave that place, he hoped he wouldn't come back.

Sergei grabbed the nearby soap bottle and pressed a button on the wall, which activated a 2 minute shower. He got down to business and washed himself down from all the sweat and grime that built up during his training, made sure that the hard to reach places were well scrubbed in all. Having a bath is a luxury Sergei will use sparingly, since the conventional red smurf conscript had cold showers and no soap, not to mention no privacy. He remembered last week when Dragovich decided to place a soap bar in the shower room to test the red smurfs' cooperation with each other. When the red smurfs head in for their daily showers, they spot the soap bar and it resulted in an all out brawl for it. It was obviously easy to clean the blood stains that had splattered all over the walls after a red smurf bang their head on it, receiving a concussion.

Horrible as that was, Dragovich eventually revealed the test and punished the red smurfs for three weeks without personal hygiene for their selfishness, Sergei recalled he stayed in doors during that entire time since he could smell the horrid body odors at his bedroom window. He hoped Dragovich wouldn't execute that kind of punishment ever again.

When the shower head automatically shuts off, Sergei washed away the remaining soap in the bathtub and sat there for a moment to let the water clear out his pores. He wished the red smurfs wouldn't be so mean, he couldn't stand being around them. Sergei thought about his peers, on how they picked on him during childhood. Dragovich defended him against the bullies, but the emotional wounds were still sore.

Maybe that's why Dragovich was physically training him, to become more independent and confident. Sergei will praise him for that, he hoped he would see the sun without getting his ass kicked by his own comrades.

Sergei got out of the bath tub and grabbed a red towel from the racks, then dried himself off. He pressed another button which activated a drain at the bottom of the bath tub as a pump deposits freshwater in, once that was done Sergei wrapped the towel around his waist and left the bathroom to get dressed. He was confident he'll make it through the rest of the day in once piece, he hoped for the rest of his life.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	6. Act I: Chapter VI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter VI_

Chernov waited at the port situated at the Smurf River as Handy, Hefty, and Miner sat with him on a log, "Is it ever going to come Chernov?" asked Handy.

"It will come," said Chernov, "Steamboats take some time to travel up river."

The smurfs were at the Green Smurf Colony to pick up some supplies for the village. The stuff they needed were more than they actually bargained for, worse, Chernov's smurfvee brake had failed and it was at the workshop for repairs. It lead the smurfs to use the river for transportation, all they had to do was to wait for a steamboat to come around, if it came around. If not, then Chernov had wasted a whole day in which it would need a weekend to recover from.

The supplies the smurfs were transporting to the village consisted of several grams of grain, logging tools, kerosine, powdered milk, paper, cooking pots, and batteries, all made by the Green Smurf Colony's working class. So far the economy had been doing well, since the attack yesterday, green smurf industry picked up the pace in the production of tools, war machines, firearms, and ammunition. Since red smurfs had a habit of striking again twice in a three day period, the green smurfs wasted no time making a few extra tanks and artillery pieces to combat them once they reached their front door again. Chernov wondered if it was even necessary, since it was a waste of resources. Well, it's better safe than sorry.

After a little more of a wait, a steamboat finally came back to port: The GSS _Galeo_. As the _Galeo_ pulled up into port, green smurfs on board began unloading the cargo received from the Smurf Village and loaded them onto nearby trucks where they would be shipped off to storage for later use. Once that was done, the green smurfs left altogether, and Chernov and the smurfs began to load their supplies on the vessel.

The captain was an overweight green smurf who had lost his left hand from a stick grenade during a skirmish with the red smurfs, he replaced his hand with a cybernetic one and went on to command one of the oldest steamboats ever produce by the green smurfs. The cybernetic hand was surprisingly practical, as Chernov can see him move it effortlessly. It was wrapped with silicon to act like skin, but it was slightly transparent which exposed the mechanics of the hand to view. Chernov didn't knew the captain personally, all he knew his name was Baldwin and the green smurf was kind.

Baldwin approach Chernov and shook his hand with his right hand, he wondered if Baldwin thought that he did not wanna creep him out with his mechanical limb, he didn't wanna ask anyway, "Pleasure to meet you Commander," said Baldwin.

"Okay Captain," said Chernov, "We got some cargo to transfer over to the Smurf Village, I also had some help from there as well to ease loading and unloading."

"I see," said Baldwin as he glanced at Hefty who was taking a heavy crate of supplies into the cargo hold, "You chose your smurfs well sir."

"They're not my smurfs, they belong to Papa Smurf."

"Old Pappy, how's he doing?"

"Fine."

"Okay, have a seat at the bridge Chernov, I'm going to go to the engine room to add some more wood to the furnace before we leave. The water tank is half full, but I plan to have it refueled when we reach the Smurf Village's port."

Chernov climbed the steps up to the bridge of the steamboat, which was simply an open deck covered with a black tarp. He sat on the bench and sit back as he waited for Baldwin, "Okay Chernov," said Hefty, "We're all smurfed up."

He could see that the smurfs had finished loading all the supplies onto the _Galleo_, "Okay Hefty, you and the smurfs sit tight and enjoy the ride."

Baldwin appeared as he climbed up the stairs and onto the bridge, "Okay," he said, "Let's get this show on the road."

He got back behind the controls of the steamboat and pulled a cord attached to the support beams of the steamboat, the _Galeo _let out a loud booming toot that could be heard all the way into the Colony for a couple of seconds before Baldwin lets go, "Can someone removed the safety line?" he asked.

"Sure." said Handy.

Chernov watched as Handy removed the blue rope that kept the boat bound to port, Baldwin soon adjust the throttle and the steamboat began to move forward, "Was it your idea to get a shipping route down the river?" he asked.

"Yes," said Chernov, "It was, but it wasn't new. The blue smurfs had planned a shipping route before, but with Gargamel in all, that never took off."

"Like that smurfmobile idea they had."

"An idea I took and made practical."

"I'm glad you did, cause I always wanted to own a boat, either wind powered or by some sort of engine," Baldwin held up his cybernetic hand, "Ever since I lost my hand to that stick grenade, owning a boat came to mind. As you see, the _Galeo_, this old boat made mostly of copper, is actually the first steamboat ever to hit this river. The Green Smurf Navy was just about to scrap it the boat after it became obsolete, but I managed to save it in time."

"What happened to the last captain?"

"I'm actually the first, the _Galeo_ was simply a prototype."

"Prototype... I knew what being a prototype is like."

Suddenly Handy came up the bridge and sat on the bench opposite from Chernov, "I never seen a boat made out of metal and powered by steam before." he said.

"Handy," said Baldwin, "Your the innovator in the Smurf Village, right?"

"Yeah." said Handy

"The smurfmobile, the aerosmurf, and the smurfmarine. You're recognized as the inventor of them all at the Green Smurf Colony, they said that you are worth immobilizing in a bronze statue."

"No one has said that about me before."

"And I'm the one who weaponized them all into something more spectacular," said Chernov, "I wonder if those Nacro-submarines will ever get into production."

The Nacro-submarine, or Nacro-sub, were originally made by humans to smuggle drugs by ocean into foreign countries, which was how it got its name. Chernov seized the idea of making a few of them due to the custom-made boat's ability to be stealthy and semi-submersible, he managed to come up with a weaponized design of the submarine and had his subordinates at the green smurf industry to work on making them. So far, the prototype, GSS _Seaworthy_, was performing well.

"I can't smurf all the credit," said Handy, "I never did patent the inventions."

"I'll make sure you get a patent on all of your inventions," said Chernov, "With or without a patent, you're known as the Father of the Smurf War Machine."

"I don't like that title."

"I don't even like my job."

"So we have a lot in common after all," Handy then turned towards Baldwin, "I noticed the guns on the _Galeo, _what are they for?"

"Even knowing the green smurf's reputation," said Baldwin, "It never occurred to you that this boat will one day be attacked."

"Oh, we're on a trading route."

"Damn right, and all trading routes have a fair share of bandits. This steamboat doesn't have the speed to get away, but it can unleash hell on demand. Despite the impressive offense, the hull itself is a bit fragile. Copper of course is a strong metal, so strong that it can withstand the impacts of small arms fire and artillery. The _Galeo_'s hull is made up of copper plates bolted together by brass screws and nuts, then all the seems are soldered with a tin and lead alloy on both sides for a waterproof seal. Like I said before, the _Galeo _was originally built to be a prototype. The newer steamboats are built with thicker copper plating, slanted armor, spaced armor, and the most popular, cage armor, which protects against the RPGs the red smurfs hurl at us."

"What does RPG stands for?"

"In Russian, it stands for _'__ruchnoy protivotankovy granatomyot', _which means 'hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher'. The backronym however means, 'Rocket-propelled grenade'. As far as our green smurf's father taught us, it's the most simple means to destroying armored vehicles. I seen an RPG-S used once in the Humanoid Wars, then numerous occasions in some skirmishes. Bad days I tell you, it cost me a hand and my pride, but at least that's all behind me now."

"For the newer steamboats," said Chernov, "They enclosed the bridge in a cabin space, you're practically exposed up here Baldwin."

"I'm a bit scared I have to admit, a sniper would take my head off with ease. Maybe some day I'll upgrade the boat or get a new one entirely. You know what, I'll get some cage armor installed around the cabin space below the bridge. That's where the guns are anyway, their barrels sticking out of the sides."

"What about a riot shield, would you get that?"

"And a bullet-proof vest as well."

"So I have to ask," said Handy, "Do the colony ever use wood for building material?"

"I forbid most of it," said Chernov, "Cause wood burns, which is why all of your homes were destroyed and mine was left standing since it was built out of steel and brass. Wood is only good for kindling to be honest, though it still makes great furniture and flooring I have to admit. Maybe someday Handy, I'll teach you how to work with metal so it won't be so foreign to you."

"Thanks Chernov, I'll be sure to smurf it into my schedule."

"Okay guys," said Baldwin, "We're just about to near the port of the Smurf Village, get ready to land."

Up ahead, Chernov can see the port in question becoming ever so larger in his view. Baldwin slowed the _Galeo _down and pulled up beside the dock, smurfs from the village who were waiting for them got to work in unloading the cargo. Chernov got down to the dock and tied the boat to port, then help out with distributing the supplies to the village. He made sure Lumberjack and Handy Smurf gets half of the logging tools, Greedy gets half of the grain as the rest goes into storage awhile getting all the new cooking pots, Brainy and Poet Smurf each get half of the shipment of paper, Handy gets all of the kerosine, and the powered milk and batteries was distributed evenly throughout the village. Chernov managed to get a little extra powder milk as a reward, as he had a taste for milk.

Once everything was done, Chernov returned to Baldwin and handed him some wine he personally made as payment, "Thank you for your help Captain Baldwin," said Chernov, "It could had taken me all day to make the transportation by myself."

"You're the Wunderwaffe," said Baldwin, "You can always take us for granted."

"I prefer working on my own back thank you very much."

"Wise choice, friend. I'm going to refill my water tank now and I'll be off within 20 minutes, I'll see you some other time Chernov."

"Okay, bye comrade."

"Bye."

As Baldwin went on to prep for another run, Chernov heads back home exhausted. Another hard day well spent, time to count some sheep. As Chernov reached home, he checked his mailbox for mail. He found a single letter, it was addressed to him and there wasn't a return address. Chernov sat down on the couch and opened the envelope, he pulled out the letter and read it.

Upon reading the letter, his face frowned. By the time he was done, Chernov crumbled it up and tossed it in the trash bin along with the envelope. It was a letter from a critic, but the letter itself didn't contain any constructive criticism. It was filled with spelling errors and insults, the letter was written in German, and since Chernov knew the language by heart he wanted to tear it out after reading the letter. Human, the letter smelled human. He knows it. Was it Gargamel? No. If it was Gargamel, then the letter would smell like family. He knew what family, friend, and foe smells like, he can clearly tell that the letter smelled 100% foe.

Chernov didn't know how the letter was shrank to smurf size, nor did he care, what matters to him right now... he wasn't so sure. He sat there with his hands in his hair, ready to pull out clumps of it. Chernov had been insulted verbally by red smurfs and some humans, this he was used to. But by literature, by a simple letter, had tipped his steaming pot onto the floor. The letter stated clearly that whoever written it wanted him to die.

A part of Chernov wished he was dead a long time ago.

He had a horrible childhood, he was well cared for but its the fact that there wasn't a mother to love him. His mom died from a pulmonary aneurism seconds after giving birth to him, her remains were stored in a fridge back in the lab he grew up in, still freshly preserved as if she had died yesterday. His dad had done his best to raise him, but Chernov couldn't blame him, his father suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he had simply past it on to his creation and son without trying.

Still, life wasn't a total disaster, he had a family to love and many siblings to be annoyed at. With a heart still sore from a long ago wound, it was difficult for him to receive the love from others properly.

The thought of drinking crossed his mind, Chernov knew the power of alcohol already. He had a family history of alcoholism, his research on the matter confirmed that. He did had his taste with liquor though, somehow he managed to be happy awhile under the influence. Rachael loved to see him smile, even when he's drunk. What kept Chernov from being corrupted by alcohol was his common sense, which was surprisingly stronger than Papa Smurf's due to his age. He swore to himself not to drink and drown out his problems, even when they threaten to kill him. He thought there was never going to be relief, ever, and he accepted that.

The front door opened as Chernov flopped onto the couch, it was Rachael, and she seemed to be in a good mood today. "Hey Chernov," she said, "Hard day?"

"Yeah," said Chernov, "I just needed sleep is all."

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, why?"

"You look like you had been pulling your hair again."

_Why do I have to say why?_ Chernov thought.

"Rachael, please leave me alone."

Rachael approached him and placed her hand on Chernov's shoulder, Chernov closed his eyes and tried to accept the receiving love, it sort of worked, "Sometimes I look at you Chernov," she said, "And its not you, just someone else, looking out behind your eyes..."

"I told myself that every time I look into the mirror, nothing seemed pleasurable anymore on those days."

"You need to recover Chernov, try to learn to live without the work. You gotta crack open the door, and let the light back in."

Chernov didn't knew what to say, so he said nothing as her words kept bouncing madly inside his head, trying to get into the way of his vision. He didn't know what he would do without Rachael, a love interest had benefited him greatly. But was there a price? Was his problems stressing Rachael out? If so, Rachael wasn't showing it. It scared him a bit, but he persuaded himself she was fine. Yes, she was fine. Fine as any green smurfette can be.

Eventually he sat up and gave Rachael a hug, "Thanks Rachael, I love you sweetheart."

"Thank you Chernov."

"Now would you excuse me, Brainy might need some help with that book he's working on."

Chernov lets go of Rachael and left the house, no point in stumbling around in his own crap, best to help others to keep his mind focused. Brainy is a swell smurf to work with, he even liked that Clumsy fellow. Helping others with his work will increase his good character, maybe even carve a little extra out of it as well. For a moment, Chernov felt the needed relief he was begging for.

**TO BECONTINUED...**


	7. Act I: Chapter VII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter VII_

Amidst the roads of the Smurf Village, Cherskey and Nelly, the children of Chernov and Rachael, were out heading into the woods. Unlike the Smurflings that they lived with in the tree stump, they enjoyed more rights and privileges than them. The twins were normally being educated by either Chernov or Rachael as the Smurflings work on the fields or doing chores, not to mention they had diplomatic immunity from Papa Smurf. However, that doesn't mean they can be defiant towards their elders, the twins had matured enough to where their common sense was in perfect order. A bit more mature than their adult counterparts.

Of course, being far younger than their parents, the 2nd generation of green smurfs were enjoying a life that the 1st generation wished to have. Papa Smurf wondered about green smurflings every since the discovery of the Green Smurf Colony, and thought about his own methods when raising his own little smurfs. Chernov was taking parenting to a whole new level, he taught his kids how to hunt, fish, hand to hand combat, and stealth. Even though they were still developing, the twins' own strength and confidence reached around Chernov's level, though they do have their mother's emotions.

They were heading home after getting some chores done, surprisingly fast and tidy, no one had told them to do chores yet they were doing some anyway. Besides, what else was there to do in the Smurf Village anyway? It had been a long day, might as well sleep off the other half awhile they still had the chance. That way, they have more energy in store for the next round of chores tomorrow.

"How about that," said Cherskey, "After washing every window in the village and cleaning up most of the waste, we had enough time to spare in order to do whatever we want."

"I'll say," said Nelly, "What do you wanna do?"

"Sleep it all off before planning my next move."

"Smart."

"What are you going to do?"

"I was thinking about the same thing."

"Okay."

They approached the clubhouse and opened the door, once inside Cherskey hopped onto his bed as Nelly joins him. They had pretty much shared a lot of things and had a strong bond with each other. They were close, a bit too close an outsider might say. For as much as they can remember, the world was new to them. They had received their first taste of combat months earlier, when the Smurf Village was having problems with some red smurfs. The twins hadn't done much, they only fired a few rounds from a pistol and that's about it. Surprising that they were able to take the lives of those who bear the humanoid form, they were used to killing animals before hand, so death was nothing new.

The taste of squirrel and bird meat was mouthwatering to them, their diet, like all other green smurfs, consist mostly of meat and dairy products. Keeping them fed was Chernov's priority, as he goes out into the wilderness at times to hunt for fair game. He brings whatever he kills home where it is butchered, cooked, and served to Rachael and the twins. Though there were some fruits and vegetables, green smurfs are too complex to be vegans like their blue cousins. They need meat in order to function properly, or else they would starve and suffer from digestive problems.

Though it was true that the meat diet contributed with some of the green smurf's obesity and such, they don't let extra fat dull their physical fitness. On the contrary, the bigger the green smurf, the more stronger they are. Which makes sense, since stress on the skeleton increases the mass of the bones and also helps fight off against illness and famines. The twins metabolism was high, and so are able to burn off all that energy with ease. Though they are expected to be half as fat as their mother in a generic sense once they turn into mature adults, it doesn't bother them one bit.

"I wonder brother," said Nelly, "What are we going to do when we're grown up?"

"Maybe get a new home in the colony," said Chernov, "Get a government job there."

"Why?"

"Dad's the Supreme Commander there, so it should be easy for us to rise up the ranks."

"I doubt it."

"I do to, but it we play real nice, then we'll might find some success."

"But what about the Smurf Village, what about Mama and Daddy?"

"What about them?"

"What would they think if we leave?"

"They'll be sad at first, but inside they would be relieved as they don't have to look out for us anymore. Dad's eager to get rid of us, I know it."

"How can you be sure, Cherskey?"

"The heavy education he's giving us, and the fact that he's feeling tired all the time. He wants to get rid of us, because its all too much for him to handle."

Nelly paused for a moment before she responds, "You're saying we should ween ourselves away from them?"

"We don't have any choice, Nelly."

"Mama isn't going to take this well."

"Any mother never takes it very well, it's very predictable."

"True."

Cherskey sat up as well as Nelly, "I love you sister," he said, "We were born together, and we will die together."

"Together."

The twins gave each other a hug, holding it for a long period of time. They bore an image similar to their parents, and they were determined to honor their family by becoming independent from the people who brought them to the world. That challenge, will be more difficult than they can imagine. It would be sad when the time comes they have to leave their parents and fend for themselves, at least smurfs are one of a few species who ever lets their children come back home.

They let go of each other when the door opened, Snappy, the self=proclaimed leader of The Smurflings, came walking inside. "How's your day, Snappy?" asked Nelly.

"Fine," said Snappy, "Had to till Farmer's garden again, which was a pain in the smurf."

"What happened?"

"Not sure what happened, but somesmurf came by and just wrecked it. I wasn't to sure what happened exactly but Farmer had me re-till it since I was the first to show up at the scene. He doesn't blame me for it, I was about to till it anyway."

"So someone had made more work for you huh?" said Cherskey.

"Yup," said Snappy, "I can't get that earth smell out of my nose, no matter what I do. Maybe a trip around the River Smurf will take care of that problem."

Snappy grabbed a towel from a dresser and heads out the door, leaving the twins alone once more, "You wanna go with him?" asked Nelly.

"Might as well have some fun for once." said Cherseky.

The Wunderwaffe Twins grabbed each a towel from the dresser and rushed out the door to join Snappy, maybe his friends were there as well.

**. . .**

"My god Brainy," said Chernov, "You used the same word 15 times on this manuscript page alone, expand your vocabulary for once."

That word was the word "smurf" and Brainy knew it, he sat back as Chernov took a red pen and began marking through his manuscript pages for correction in grammar and spelling. Brainy knew that Chernov was grumpy this afternoon and he said nothing more to him, he feared getting him angered to the point where he'll either storm out or worse. Nonetheless, Chernov kept his head cool and finished polishing one chapter. He sat that part of the manuscript down before picking up the next chapter, the look in his eyes tell Brainy that he probably groaned inside his head.

He said nothing as he went on making the corrections, Brainy gripped the base of his chair with both hands, trying to stay focused. As nervous as he was, he was more concerned about Chernov's mood than the errors in his writing.

Brainy knew Chernov from the start. No, it was more complex. Chernov met Brainy _before_ the other smurfs personally, his memory was fuzzy since Brainy was unconscious the entire time. It started by Hefty kicking him out of the village, he went farther than expected and landed in a barren part of the forest filled mostly of coniferous trees. After stumbling around in the forest in an effort to find a way home, he triggered a trap which enabled a noose to wrap around his foot and launch him into the air and slamming him into a spruce tree. The blow knocked Brainy out cold, but he was lucky since Chernov's father was there to save him. The irony was that Dimitri set up the trap in the first place.

As he was told, Dimitri took him back to the mountain lab where he and Chernov treated Brainy for his wounds. Awhile knocked out, Chernov made his official introduction with the rest of the Smurf Village awhile he slept across the room. Somehow, Chernov saved Brainy's life emotionally by organizing his wits, since they were scrambled from his concussion. Brainy later returned the favor by helping Chernov recover from a broken rib after Gargamel crushed him with a rock, that was when Brainy realized how moody the world's first human-smurf hybrid really was.

Humans described Chernov as cold-hearten and mean-spirited at first, but over time Chernov mellowed down to a point where he was manageable to his new friends. These days, Chernov helped Brainy with his work, which unknowingly puts him more into debt to the green smurf's will. Brainy wondered how he would pay Chernov back, he deserves a reward after all, though he's difficult to please on occasion. Sometimes Chernov was depressed, and other times he's sociable. No one can't seemed to get Chernov in the right mood like Rachael can, few creatures in the world can make Chernov feel happy completely.

"Way to save paper by typing on the back of each manuscript page," said Chernov, "Thankfully you numbered them, or else I wouldn't able to figure out the order."

"Why?" asked Brainy.

"My mind is a bit in a fog today, I just couldn't deal with such the stress at the moment. I had a bit of a headache that started this morning, I rather not agitate it."

"I recommend you smurf a nice relaxing bath to soothe your troubles away, and also-"

"Brainy, it is best to write your advice in a book rather than talk about them. Some things aren't meant to be said, only written."

"But you gave advice all the time."

"Only when necessary, and I also kept them short. If you can keep your advices just 15 words or less, then your good to go. If not, expect a boot print stamped onto your butt as you're being shot to the moon."

"Is that why nobody is listening to me, because my speech is too smurfy."

"By you mean too long?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, no one needs to hear a speech or a oral manual. Keep the advices short. And besides, a hot bath might do me nice. I should build a hot-tub outside my house, yeah, get some action with Rachael in it."

Brainy chuckled, "I have no idea what you meant, but that's pretty funny."

"Rachael's easy to please, so easy that she even keeps the kids happy."

Brainy had witness remarkable change in Chernov's personality once Rachael came into the scene, the fact that she was fat didn't mind him at all, back then though it was a bit bizarre. Recalling what happened to Greedy when he was heavy, Brainy was surprised she didn't went through a similar experience. Unlike Greedy, she was physically fit, often outrunning everybody when being chase. She was so fast that even Chernov was jealous, it was one way Rachael had her hook on him.

Whatever Chernov saw in Rachael was plain to see for everyone else, they first made love to have children then continue to make love in order to keep the hormones in check. Chernov's way with the ladies was simple, treat them like they're his own daughter. So far, his father-figure roll worked out for the rest of his half-sisters, including the infamous Dashie. It was hard to understand at first, but Chernov and Smurfette's relationship started off bad, as Chernov once hated her. Either it was because of beauty or the fact that she was once evil, whatever the reason Chernov had gotten over it and the two became good friends. With Rachael being Smurfette's biological daughter, his relationship to Smurfette is just as important with Rachael's. Cause if one of them falters, the other will falter as well.

Brainy had spoken with Rachael on occasion, she treats him like a brother, though she views him as an Uncle. Rachael was nice, and was a good friend like Clumsy.

Chernov continued to make corrections on Brainy's manuscript, eventually he puts the cap back on the red pen and sat aside the last page of that latest chapter, "That should do Brainy," said Chernov, "Where's Clumsy anyway?"

"He should be at home." said Brainy.

"Is he doing better on his feet?"

"I hadn't seen much improvement."

Chernov got up and stretched, "I'm going now Brainy," he said as he relaxed, "Tomorrow is another day."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Chernov eventually head for the door and left, shutting the door behind him. He sat there, staring at where Chernov had once been. The feeling of being along seemed to bug him a bit, but no, he gets that feeling when smurfs ignore him. No, they will not ignore him with the help of Chernov. They listened to him, as he saved the day almost occasionally. But that was during his few first months of life, old days he wished not to relive. Maybe Papa Smurf was busy working on something, he could use his help. Yeah, its always good to help the village leader. He had been working too hard as well. If Brainy help's him, then Papa Smurf will have more free time to spend. Brainy thought about it for awhile, and eventually decided to go assist Papa Smurf.

Brainy got up and approached his front door, but when he opened it he couldn't move out of the way in time as a present bomb positioned on a tripod blew up in his face. He stumbled backwards as his glasses clattered to the floor, temporary blinded by dust and smoke from the explosion, he heard Jokey's familiar laughter. Rage boiled up inside him, "Surprise!" said Jokey.

_How did he set it up so fast after Chernov left? _Brainy thought.

Brainy fumbled across the floor and managed to find his glasses. When he puts them on, he saw Jokey on his back, still laughing from his work. The charred box that was left of the present bomb was empty, nothing but blackness clinging to its walls. It was still smoking from the explosion, Brainy had no doubt that this present shot hot gas into his face, "Chernov taught me how to make a claymore device," said Jokey, "What do you think?"

"Smurfing successful," said Brainy, "When did he taught you this?"

"Three weeks ago."

"And you're timing can't be any more smurfable, well done."

"Thank you."

"Its just what I need, you where I don't want you. How much time do I had to spend dusting myself off when I have something to do?"

"Smurf up Brainy, you have plenty of time to perform your schedule today."

"Sounds like you've been smurfing too much time with Chernov as well, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I did. He smurf me a lot about pyrotechnics, taught me how to make trip wires and simple explosives. I remember that time that I stood by and watch Chernov test his homemade sample of TNT, it sure was a blast."

"I felt the explosion all the way from home, and when I got out I saw this huge fireball smurfing up to the sky. I personally thought it was the end of the world, until you and Chernov showed up covered from head to toe in soot."

"You should've seen the look on your face, it was amazing!"

"I bet it was."

Brainy simply walked past him as Jokey recovered from his laughing, still steaming in anger, _I'll get back at him, _he thought, _I'll get back on Jokey, and I'll make sure he won't play that trick on me again. _

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	8. Act I: Chapter VIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter VIII_

For most of the day till the hour before midnight, General Dragovich went over several maps, either crafted by red smurf scouts or commandeered from the Green Smurf Colony during the Humanoid Wars. Most of the maps were outdated, as the Green Smurf Colony continues to change their defenses and strategies regularly. Dragovich tried everything he could think of, even had the colony surrounded. But no matter the odds against the green smurfs, they prevailed, they always prevailed. Dragovich grabbed the nearby vodka bottle and pored himself a stiff drink, a little booze may soften up his problems.

His desk was covered with maps and worn out scouting journals as the general himself was wearing his pajamas, already it was stained with sweat. Dragovich swore that he was missing something obvious, a weakness in the green smurfs' defenses. Under the dim glow of his desk lamp, Dragovich studied the border lines of the colony carefully both political and geographical versions. Nothing turned up, as if the green smurfs were invulnerable from any attack, inside and out. But there was something, something that both the red and green smurfs overlooked. He grunted as he slammed the map onto his desk, causing a book to tumble from its surface and onto the floor. Swearing in Russian, General Dragovich bent over and picked it up. When he glanced at the cover, something caught his attention.

The book was titled _Quotation_, on its cover was a picture of that four-eyed Brainy Smurf, holding a couple of books in one hand awhile waving an index finger with the other. Dragovich knew Brainy personally, the blue nerd gets everybody on his nerves. What he found interesting was that the book was co-authored by Chernov Reznov, which explains why the book was written in Russian. Something tripped in Dragovich's head, it both inspired him and made his blood boil at the same time.

_Трахнитесь, _thought Dragovich, _I can't believe I was this stupid!_

It was ridiculous. Dragovich piled up all the maps and reorganized them in a neatly made pile, then got up and stroll across the room towards some filing cabinets. He went over the the "S" section and opened it up, after thumbing through several files, he pulled out one in particular that was centered in his cross-hairs. The file was labeled "Smurf Village", he heads back to his desk and sat down then opened up the file. Inside was several documents of key smurfs and a map of the Smurf Village itself, Dragovich picked up the map and unfolded it. The map was a bit old, hadn't been updated in 3 years. It was all written in German and measured in metric, Dragovich knew how to speak German thanks to lessons he took awhile in Germany, so there was no language barrier there.

The map was a portion of the region where the village was, the Smurf River was clearly marked, as well as several key landmarks such as the Great Oak Tree and the abandoned human tower. All the mushroom houses were marked and had the names of smurfs who lived there, all except Chernov's. Dragovich knew that Chernov lived at the Smurf Village, but couldn't put a finger where. He knew the coordinates well, but not the terrain and landscape of the village. The village was so unimportant to them, that any information they had on it was horribly neglected. The Smurf Village was only 10 kilometers west of the colony, and it had roads connecting both civilizations. Might as well use that to his advantage.

Dragovich went through the files of these important smurfs, they were Handy, Hefty, Greedy, Farmer, and Smurfette. The general knew that Smurfette was the biological mother of the green smurfs, though the rest of the smurfs were unknown to him. He looked through their profiles and saw their role of the village was vital, that got Dragovich thinking: Take out Handy, and the Smurf Village's infrastructure crumbles; take out Hefty, and the smurfs loose a professional courier and scout; take out Greedy, and the smurfs' diet will get a nasty monkey wrench; take out Farmer, and the chance of a famine happening in the village will dramatically increase; take out Smurfette, and you deal a psychological blow to both the Smurf Village and Green Smurf Colony. Morale might swiftly drop if Smurfette was killed, but even without these VIP smurfs the village and colony will shrug it off in the long-term.

General Dragovich discovered a couple of more profiles in the file: Papa and Grandpa Smurf. They were the Smurf Village's leaders, he didn't know much about Papa Smurf but Grandpa Smurf was a bit familiar. A cruel irony was that the Elder Smurf had met Grandpa Smurf a long time ago, as a red smurfling, the Elder Smurf told the young Adrian Dragovich about the bearded blue smurf in yellow clothing. "He was a nice lad," said the Elder as Adrian sat on his lap, "We both exchange knowledge and tomes, I remember his face and words as if he was here yesterday."

"Pa?" asked Adrian, "Is he still alive?"

"I'm not sure son, it had been a long time since I'd last seen him. I'm only 700 years old after all, that blue smurf could be about a thousand years old today. I doubt he's still alive though, I doubt it all one bit."

Apparently the Elder Smurf was wrong, though Dragovich wondered if the bearded blue smurf the Elder Smurf had met and Grandpa Smurf was the same individual, he'll figure that out later. The general moved on to Papa Smurf's profile and read it, "Invaluable," he said to himself, "If I take out this smurf, the village will cease to exist. The former is too old to lead as he so in year's past, so the odds are in my favor."

Dragovich had a lot of work to do, it made sense to attack an easier target after the many failed attacks on the Green Smurf Colony. He will need good data before planning the attack on the village, and he knew who to turn to for scouting. He got out of his chair and head out of his office, Dragovich walked down the hall and up some stairs before reaching the living quarters. He walked past several doors before opening one of them, Dragovich flipped the switch, "Sergei," he said, "Get up, I come in need of you this hour."

Sergei rubbed his eyes and yawned, "In the middle of the night sir?" he asked.

"Yup."

Sergei sat up and looked at Dragovich with droopy eyes, "For what?"

"I'm going to need you to do some espionage on the Smurf Village."

Upon hearing those words, Sergei's eyes widened, "You want me to do what!"

"I need you to gather information on the Smurf Village," said Dragovich, "Simply writing down details about the base in a journal and bring back anything useful, your the only red smurf I can trust on this Sergei."

"What if I get caught? Its a death sentence for espionage in the time of war, and since we're in war with the green smurfs... Wait a minute, you said you're going to send me to the Smurf Village to spy on them?"

"That's right?"

"Are we in war with them?"

"Not yet."

"Oh hell, you'll unleash Pandora's box if you attack the Smurf Village."

"Something has to be done, after all these failures I at least have found something easier to attack. If we pull those green smurfs out of their comfort zone, then we'll break the stalemate."

"To come to think of it, that's brilliant. But Chernov, he lives at the Smurf Village. There's also a bird and a dog whose instincts are always sharp 24/7."

"That shampoo you used during your bath, it prevents the bacteria that causes body odor from metabolizing. You wouldn't have much problem being picked out of the bushes from those animals."

Dragovich knew Sergei would obey, he gave into his demands as expected, "Very well Comrade General, I'll do as you commanded."

"Good, let's get to work prepping you for your mission."

**. . .**

First Sergei was in bed sleeping soundly and the next thing he knew was riding a twinblade helicopter to a designated drop zone deep into enemy territory. He was equipped with highly advanced camouflage clothing, infrared goggles, a couple of leather journals, some mechanical pencils, a pair of binoculars w/ range finders, a flashless HD reconnaissance camera, and a Smurfsterner sub-machine gun that fires 0.7 mm rounds with a 50 magazine capacity, along with several magazines. Even though this was going to be a reconnaissance mission, good ole` Dragovich wanted to make sure he had some protection, as the night was crawling with nocturnal creatures looking for their dinner.

The twinblade managed to get at least 4 kilometers away from the Smurf Village, a range safely out of reach from Chernov's sensitive radar system. If the twinblade gets at least 2 kilometers close to the Smurf Village, Chernov will sense its presents and sound the attack siren. Sergei wondered what would happen if the Smurf Village was alerted to his presence, knowing Chernov would gun down any red smurf he sees without mercy, surrendering was not an option. A cruel reality was that he made friends with Chernov personally during the Humanoid Wars, when he realized that Sergei was different from the rest of the red smurfs after his captured. Chernov had plans to make him an official "Red Smurf Ambassador" rather than a POW, Sergei was eventually released by Chernov's authority, strangely the green smurfs mostly approve of the action.

For Sergei, coming home was a bit of a challenge, since red smurfs had a habit of shooting _deserters_ once their own comrades turn missing. He nearly suffered that fate, but good ole` Dragovich spared his life. After debriefed, he returned to his usual duties and never went to the front lines again, until tonight. Sergei felt nervous, he felt himself heating up from the anxiety. It was already barely winter, so the air should be freezing cold. Sergei wondered how the blue smurfs managed to withstand the freezing cold during winter, since they were quite naked and so far behind in their technology. Maybe they had mitochondria from hell, Sergei wasn't so sure. Maybe tonight though, he would might find out.

The twinblade began to hover above the treeline, branches swayed and tremble from the wind gusts of the twinblade, shaking off dead leaves that managed to stay attached to them after autumn ended. Sergei looked out through the open door and shivered, its going to be a long night.

"Hurry up comrade," said the pilot, "We don't have all night!"

"Copy." said Sergei.

Sergei took off the headphones and mic and sat it aside, then dropped the rope he'll be sliding down on to the ground with one end attached to the twinblade. He took a deep breath as he attached his safety harness to the rope, then jumped without a moment to loose. He had fast roped so many times that he could do it awhile asleep, Sergei fast-roped to the forest floor without incident. Once his feet touched the ground, he removed his safety harness from the rope and gave it a tug and it detached from the twinblade. Once the other end of the rope fell to earth, the twinblade helicopter flied away and was gone within seconds. He was now on his own, far from Fort Romanov and home. Sergei knew he cannot screw this up.

_Let's get this over with. _He thought.

His first task was to locate a hidden cache of supplies stashed somewhere in the vicinity before hand by the red smurfs, Sergei had no problem finding it after walking 10 meters from the drop zone. It was a olive green metal chest, the red star was printed clearly on its lid. Sergei opened it up and discovered it was packed with supplies. It contained flares, flash-bangs, batteries, and a Heavy-Duty lantern flashlight. It also contained a couple of sandwitches and a bottle of vodka, just in case Sergei got hungry during his mission. Sergei wound up stuffing a pocket with flares, the batteries in another, attached the lantern flashlight to his fast-roping clip, and stuffed the sandwitches and vodka into whatever pocket that was empty.

Sergei put on his infrared goggles, everything was in HD as well as in infrared. The temperature of the ground and environment was mostly blue, right below zero. He looked at his hands, and through the goggles saw his hands were cherry red as the sleeves of his jacket was green. He almost felt like a predator himself, but this was no time to get cocky, he had a job to do and a task to complete. So Sergei checked his compass for bearings, then head off towards where he think was the Smurf Village.

Dragovich had reassured him that there were little to no defenses at the village, so he should slip in and out without much effort. It was winter, the smallest creatures should be huddled into dens sleeping it off. So whatever moves through the frozen forest that was no more than the size of a human thumb would be humanoid, and the smurfs were the only humanoids around. In one of Chernov's books, he stated that nothing can be more terrifying than the human form, as it can come up with infinite numbers of ways to kill you. Humans are known to have that capability, and excel at it. The smurfs had a bit of a difficulty though, except the green smurfs who had inherited the fluency from their human father.

Sergei put on his gloves and took a deep breath, the winter was cooling him down alright, a little to fast though. He knew he doesn't belong here, and Mother Nature could be more of an enemy than the Wunderwaffe on a bad day. If something goes awry, Sergei will get out his small radio out of his coat and call for help. He gotta keep it warm, or else the battery will freeze and his life would be over within hours. It will be a slow and agonizing death, Sergei gulped at the thought of it.

Now he had already walked a few kilometers, already his feet were becoming sore. They were still recovering from his intense training, yet they hadn't crap out on him yet. Sergei wondered if he was going the right way, he checked his compass again and made the necessary adjustment before continuing. Pity cold, his gloves were doing little to keep his hands warm. Sergei couldn't think of anything else that would keep him warm, anything that doesn't give away his position that is. A fire is all that he needed right now, a warm and toasty fire. Though he doesn't want to be burned to ashes inside the pit. Green smurfs burn their dead since land was all too valuable for them, he was sure that the blue smurfs buried theirs.

He was getting close, Sergei checked his compass again. He kept walking until he heard some familiar voices, humanoid voices, Sergei got down onto his belly and listened. _The smurfs? _Sergei thought. He waited for a moment, and thought of discovery came to mind. He almost panicked, only common sense made him kept his cool. He slowly got up and looked for a vantage point he could use, a nearby oak tree seemed promising. Sergei climbed up the tree as quickly and quietly as possible, the voices were getting louder and stronger. He gone as high as he could go, and perched himself on a thick branch of the tree. He looked out and was amazed to see the Smurf Village before him.

Almost immediately, Sergei got out his journal and pen before beginning reconnaissance. He wrote down whatever he saw, number of mushroom houses, weak spots, high grounds, anything with military value. He even noted Chernov's house, which was clear when he saw the huge metal chimney sticking up out of the mushroom house. Sergei made note of the location of his house, it was positioned at the edge of the Smurf Village next to a body of water. That body of water had a route going directly to the Smurf River, if the red smurfs seize control of the Smurf Village then they also control part of the river as well. Sergei wrote that down as well, he left nothing unrecorded.

He spent a good half hour writing everything down, Sergei had to remove his gloves in order to record his info. The constant movement of his hand was keeping it warm, which was heavily needed. Once there wasn't anything left to take notes of, Sergei got out the camera and took numerous pictures. He even got a few snapshots of some smurfs as they walked down the small roads, Chernov was no where to be seen, but Papa Smurf came to view. Sergei took a few pictures of him, Dragovich will be fond with these photos, he knows it.

As Papa Smurf heads inside of a mushroom house, a few other smurfs came into view. Smurfette in particular was there, Sergei took a picture of her. She was beautiful, more beautiful than any women he had ever met. He had met her in person during his POW days in the Humanoid Wars, but that was it. Sergei saw that there was another smurfette with her, Rachael Reznov. Compared to her, the differences were ridiculous. Rachael's blond hair for example: Its strands were entwined, tangled, and really greasy. It looked similar to mesh, Sergei was sure of it. He watched as the two smurfettes approached a pink mushroom house, Sergei managed to get a picture of Smurfette walking inside as Rachael heads back to her own home.

At the other side of the village, he saw a group of smurflings. Sergei caught sight of 4 blues and 2 greens, the greens were no doubt Chernov and Rachael's kids. Had met them and Rachael once after red smurfs tried to take them hostage for ransom, of course that didn't end to well with Chernov on the prowl. He took a few pictures of the Smurflings as they continued down the path, then head off inside of a treestump looking house. Sergei took pictures of that too.

Sergei spotted a mushroom house with yellow presents w/ orange ribbons covered all over the yard, he knew they were explosives, a stray round might blow the house to kingdom come. He took a picture of that as well.

Once he was done taking pictures, Sergei continued writing in his journal, filling the last few pages with updated information. He needed to gather whatever he could find, missed one thing and it will bite him in the tail in the long-term. Satisfied, Sergei packed everything up, puts his glove back on, and climbed down the tree. He ran off deep into the woods without leaving anything behind, he had done his job, now all he had to do was set up a rendezvous point and get outta the Smurf Forest.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	9. Act I: Chapter IX

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter IX_

Morning came around at the Smurf Village, Papa Smurf sat up from his bed and stretched his arms. Plans are simple today, so it should be straight forward. If it wasn't, then he would had gotten up early and work all day long. The village leader got out of bed and made it, then got dressed in his usual outfit. He was just about to head for breakfast when a knock came to his door, "Come in." he said.

The door opened and Rachael stepped on through, as far as Papa Smurf can tell, she wasn't happy. "Great smurfs," he said, "What's wrong Rachael?"

"It's Chernov," she said as she shut the door behind her, "I'm concerned about him."

"Have a seat and we'll discuss about it."

Rachael and Papa Smurf got a seat at the round table in the house and got down to business, "What happened to Chernov?" Papa Smurf asked.

"Chernov's not sleeping, eating, and is getting more and more frustrated," explained Rachael, "He's too deep into his own problems that I'm starting to loose my touch, its getting more and more difficult to raise his morale."

"The day Greg died, he did admit this. It was the work he was doing, he doesn't wanna do it anymore."

"You know?"

"Yes I do, among all my experienced over the last 400 years, I had never encountered anyone with such problems as him. We understand his past, but we don't understand how he reacts to certain events."

"Last night, I walked into our house and found him sleeping on the floor. I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't budge. He was a heavy sleeper, similar like me except he doesn't snore. I had to muscle him into bed, he didn't stir or anything."

"He's smurfed out, tired from the problems he was having."

"He had already moved our children over to the Smurfling's clubhouse, he doesn't seem to have a problem taking care of them in all but just having them around was bad enough for him."

"Does he ever yell at you?"

"No, he never raise his voice at me. He just brushes me aside and march out of the conversation if there is one, I come to you today because I need help getting through to him. He's the most stubborn smurf I've ever met."

Papa Smurf thought about the times where he found Chernov sleeping on the couch or in shady areas of the Smurf Village, but that was before Rachael and the twins came into his life. He never saw that usual behavior since the Humanoid Wars, all he had ever saw was Chernov doing work. Work, he was consumed in his own work. When it dawned on the village leader, he thinks he know the answer, "What entertains him and amazes him the most?"

"Pyrotechnics," said Rachael, "He likes to set things on fire, in fact he's great at explosives and such."

"Anything less explosive?"

"Cherskey and Nelly."

_There we go,_ thought Papa Smurf, _Something I could work on._

"Okay Rachael, I think I know what to do. I won't promise you it will work, but I will promise you he'll get a reaction from it. Have him take the children out, away from the Smurf Village and out to a quiet area of the forest, have him spend time with the little ones."

"Thank you Pappy, I owe you one."

Rachael gave Papa Smurf a big hug, a hug that made his joints pop and crackle. Before Papa Smurf could complain, Rachael lets go of him and she was gone in a blink of an eye. The village leader pants as he watched the front door closed itself, "Okay," Papa Smurf said to himself, "I think I did something good today."

Papa Smurf got up from his chair and left the mushroom house, so much must be done before the sun sets, ending the day forever. He was determined to get it all done so he had some free time in the weekends, he must do it with no delay.

**. . .**

Chad's first task as Secretary of Defense, he ordered the Green Smurf Army to be bolstered and more efficiently trained. Green smurfs organized things differently than the humans in their civilization, as the GSA was mostly made up of minutemen, those who become soldiers in a time of need. Very few green smurfs ever took the role of conscript as a full-time job, those who do mostly perform police-work. Like trouble ever happens in the colony during peacetime.

Greg kept the GSA at around a mere 100, roughly the same number as the Smurf Village. He thought that the colony doesn't need that many expert soldiers since the number of minute men takes up at least 90% of the colony, he might be thinking differently if he was still alive. Chad threw out some of Greg's policies in an effort to increase the army's readiness, as a result he bolstered the number of soldiers from 100 to 250, making 1 out of 4 green smurfs a lean, mean, killing machine. He handpicked the soldiers from a crowd, looking for certain traits that Chernov might deemed invaluable. Chad reorganized the army and created special divisions in which will help during war.

The main army will be the Infantry Division: Born during the Humanoid Wars, this class of soldiers served during the fight against the red smurfs and humanities Nativist Socialist Party (NSA). They consist mostly of veterans who fought during that war, which at the time the army was below the 100 threshold. Many of those veterans today now had some leadership, commanding their own personal squads or divisions. They were easy to deploy, and easy to work with. They will take the blunt of anything during the fight in the battlefield, but they had some competition.

There's the Juggernaut Division: Superhuman obese smurfs encased in heavy armor. Chad added the special division since Greg's bulletproof vest failed him against the stick grenade, he had the manufacturers in GSV 6 to create the armor despite the fact that he needed Chernov's approval in order to add new equipment to the army. Chad got his way in the end, thanks to his best friend Judd since he's the Secretary of Manufacturing. As a reward, Chad made Judd the leader of the new juggernaut division. As the General of the juggernaut division, he added some unique heavy-duty hardware to complete the juggernaut's fear factor: The Portable Gatling Mini-gun, which is held at the hip position as it unleash a rain of bullets that can turn an infantry division into a bloody mush in seconds.

The Pyrotechnics Division: Which consist of claymore, black powder, and incendiary experts. Chad had no doubt this will be Chernov's personal favorite, as the primary weapon of the Pyrotechnics Division will be the "Heavy Incinerator", which is a space-age like flamethrower that can shoot flames up to 7 meters around 1,650 degrees Celsius. Tactical weapons consist of claymores, which are explosives that send all of its kinetic energy in a desired direction, and Molotov Cocktails, simple glass bottles filled with a flammable mixture. The mixture of the Molotovs consist of ethanol (which acts as a fuel), black powder (to give it an explosive kick), and petroleum (to make sure everything sticks when on fire). The claymores were crude, looking like tin cans used to package food, yet they're effective and can even be made on the battlefield with the right ingredients available.

The Armor Division: Made up of tanks and artillery. Like the Infantry Division, it was created around the Humanoid Wars. The green smurfs' creator had sent a division of armored vehicles and tanks to them during the heat of the battle, after the war the green smurfs managed to build some factories and assembly lines to mass-produce the war machines. Smurfvees and Reznov Tanks were the first vehicles, mobile howitzers came around a month after the Humanoid Wars. The blue smurfs found it vaugely familiar, since they had a brief period of time where they had smurfmobiles. So when Chernov officially introduced the smurfvee, he gave Handy credit for the idea of transport.

And there's the Special Forces Division: Simply known as the Elite. This division requires a unique form of training which will take up at least 2 weeks to complete, and are trained by Chernov himself. Chad added this division personally, since he wanna help Chernov in his issues and such. He could take advantage training the cadets and unleash all of his frustration upon them at his mercy. Its impressive, and deadly. He'll leave Chernov to work out the rest once the time comes to it, in the meantime Chad went to work training the three divisions until they were as he envisioned them to be.

Yes, there was the Green Smurf Air Force and Navy to worry about. But they're a lot harder to work with because they're either still primitive, or have too many problems to work out. Chad decided to work on the army first and do the rest of the military later, if he worked them all at once then he would end up like Chernov on a bad day.

Chad at the moment was at one of many firing ranges in the Green Smurf Colony, here he watched as green smurfs take practice shots with a various firearms. The targets were paper sheets of crimson red human silhouette targets placed at about 5 meters away. The green smurfs take pot-shots at the targets, aiming for the center-mass or the head. Chad noted their performance and took notes, even reviewing some of the targets themselves to check for accuracy. After several surveys, he discovered that the green smurfs were complaining that the targets were too far away. Noting this problem clearly was most of the green smurfs were missing the bulls-eyes, some weren't even close to hitting the silhouette. He knew the targets weren't too far, as Chernov made farther shots than what most green smurfs were used too.

He went to examine the weapons in particular: The SIR rifle mod, the RS-100, and the 0.7 & 0.9 mm handguns. He fired each and every weapon, and noted his own accuracy. Bullet placement was crucial, since you want to take down your enemy awhile conserving ammo. If your gun goes dry out in combat, you're a sitting duck waiting to be killed by the hunter. Logistics and tactical armament noted, Chad saw the problem. It was the iron sites of the firearms, they weren't designed for surgical precision.

So Chad went to the armory and examined some scopes used in the SIR sniper modification, they were designed for precision and they always get the job done with little effort. Chad took a SIR rifle barrel to a workshop and removed the iron sites off of them, literally ground them off. Then took a simple copper tube, cut it to the acquired length, and added a single layer of glass with a pin head sized dot in its center and stuck it in the tube. Once the glass was glued to place, Chad went to work on mounting it to the rifle. He had to make sure it was center, or his scope will do him no good. Chad was working on a hunch, something he had heard about but never actually tried.

It was a scope called the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG), its a scope made for surgical precision. Normally a solder would have to be trained to use a firearm at long ranges, but with this scope that wouldn't be necessary. It took a steady hand and some leveling, but Chad managed to glued his prototype ACOG scope onto the barrel. Once the glued dried, Chad took the barrel, stuck it into the main body of the SIR, then took it to the firing range for testing.

Chad fired 10 shots at the target, making sure the tiny dot was hovering directly over the bulls-eye. When he reviewed the results, he was shocked that 8 bullets had pop=marked the bulls-eye, the rest went through the ring beside it. Excited, he had Judd and several other green smurfs try it out. All of them had surgical accuracy, one even had 100% accuracy. Seeing the potential, Chad had Judd take the scope to the engineers to create a reliable model of the ACOG scope using his design.

Chad felt proud of his achievement, even though he had reinvented a human invention. Nonetheless, he had made something that will ease the trouble of green smurfs conserving ammo. With more bullets in reserve, Chad felt reassured that the colony will withstand a better chance when fighting outside of home. All green smurfs regardless of skin color are easily struck by home sickness, outside the comfort zone and safety of their society. Maybe the red smurfs feel homesick, assuming that they had soft feelings that is. When the time comes the green smurfs must leave home, Chad will make sure the green smurfs are ready.

After the hard work he had done that morning, Chad returned to his office and home. Like any other house in the colony, it was a spider-hole. Chad walked down the ramp and opened the front door. The interior of the single room spider-hole had camouflage net decoration strewn all over the wall, covering every corner and edge with it. Also inside were a couple of military trunks at the side of the room, containing personal items. A metal desk with a padded wooden chair sat next to them, its surface was bare clean. At the other side of the room was a small stove, small enough to be a toilet for a smurf's size. Its exhaust pipe leads outside the spider-hole, and was blended well into the camouflage net decoration. Up against the back wall was a bookshelf, filled with books written either by Chernov, Rick, Brainy, or human military authors from history's past. Finally, taking up the rest of the space against the wall were a couple of cots. One for Chad, and the other for his daughter Katusha.

Katusha, his little angel. Thinking about her made his heart warm up, but it also reminded him of the trouble it took to bring her into the world and raise her right. Her mother died from an illness 6 months ago, it was a hard time Chad and Katusha had to deal with. But they pulled through. Daddy's little girl would always be by his side, giving him her support when needed. But there was so much she could do until it all comes crashing down.

Thankfully that hasn't happened yet, Chad was determined to make sure of that. He shuts the door behind him and sat his rifle aside, then started a fire inside the stove to warm up the place. Without warning, the door opened, and his daughter came walking through.

"Hi Kat." said Chad.

"Hey daddy," she cheered.

"How's your day been going so far?"

"Quite well."

Chad couldn't figure out what his daughter does during the day, he didn't wanna find out. It took a keen eye, but Chad managed to saw some doubt on her expression. Something had happened, "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Well," Katusha said as she sat down besides Chad on the cot, "Ever since Uncle Greg died, things hadn't been the same. Now that you have his job, I wondered if you ever have some time to spend with me."

"I noted this to Chernov and that's why he had both of us move into Greg's office. Don't worry sweetie, I'm not going to leave you."

Katusha gave Chad a hug in response, "Thanks Daddy." she said.

"No problem Kat."

"Oh Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"How is Chernov and Rick doing, I know Rick was taking Greg's death a bit too hard but Chernov is a bit of a mystery."

"He always was, a green smurf who trained himself not to show his personal emotions when he wants to. I had talked to Rick already and he's doing fine, Chernov is another story however. Sometimes I wonder if its possible to crack him open like an egg so we could see what comes out, no matter what he'll resist our methods of getting through to him till the bitter end. Might as well live with him as he is rather than not living with him at all."

Katusha got up and heads for the door, "Where you're going Kat?"

"I have no idea."

"That's what your mom says when she had an excuse for leaving, I told her..."

Chad stopped before he could finish the sentence, then backtracked, "Yeah, you get the point."

"See you till lunch." said Katusha.

"Bye."

Katusha soon left, leaving Chad alone once again. If Daddy's girl had grief over her mother's death, then she's doing a good job of not showing it. Chad stretched out his legs and lied down on the cot, he laid there, staring up at the ceiling as he wondered what his life would be like without Chernov. Sure Chernov at times can get a little physical, like that time he made out with a green smurfette after kidnapping her. What was her name? Well anyway, Chad thinks she might had missed him. Oh well, it doesn't hurt to start dating again. Though trouble will be hard to keep out of the equation though.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	10. Act I: Chapter X

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter X_

Greg's funeral took place in GSV 1, it was the first of its kind in the Green Smurf Colony. Normally when someone dies in the colony, their body is disposed of by incineration with little time to say goodbye. It all had to do with prestige and how the green smurf died, since Greg was well known and he died in order to save others, why not have a funeral?

A lot of green smurfs attended the funeral, maybe half of the colony was there. Even though the Smurf Village was well informed about the funeral, not a single blue smurf came since it was too far. Chernov, Rachael, and their children on the other hand, had came to the colony by steamboat since Chernov needed to get his smurfvee back from the workshop. They all stood there with Rick, Dashie, and the rest of the green smurfs as they watch Greg's body, wrapped up in white cloth, be dumped into the incinerator by Chad and Judd with full military honors. After a 10 shot salute, the funeral was over in less than 30 minutes.

Chernov found himself driving home in his repaired smurfvee with his small family group down the very road where he got ambushed, he constantly checked his rear-view mirror to make sure no one was following him, the last thing he needs is a shootout with his kids in harm's way. Thankfully, no incident took place and Chernov made it home without problems. Once Chernov parks the car, he was about to get out when Rachael stopped him, "Can you take the kids out with you today?" she asked.

"Sure," said Chernov, "Where to?"

"Somewhere quiet, you need it Chernov, you worked to hard."

"Of course, what will you do in the time being?"

"Visit Smurfette."

"I imagine Smurfette rocking back and forth in a corner as you blabber away-"

Rachael poked Chernov in the side hard, and Chernov tickled her sided. The two chuckled as they hugged and kiss, "The kids are watching Chernov."

"Don't worry, they don't know what they're looking at."

"Yes we do." said the twins in unison.

"Get out Rachael," laughed Chernov, "Get out."

Rachael giggled as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car, as she heads for the Smurf Village, she walked in front of the smurfvee. Chernov honked the horn, causing Rachael to jump, he can't help but laugh as Rachael pouted like an immature child at him. When she was finished, she heads to the Smurf Village and was out of site within seconds. Now alone with the kids, Chernov set the smurfvee to drive and turned it around to get back onto the road.

"Where we're going?" asked Cherskey.

"There's a spot I know of that can enable us to see far across the land." said Chernov.

"The high ground?"

"Yup, good sniping and recon if you think about it."

"Now if we ever get lost, can we use it as a rendezvous point?" asked Nelly.

"Yup."

"Oh dad," asked Cherskey, "Why did mama say you work to hard?"

"Well... Ever since that attack on the colony, I couldn't even think straight. For some reason, it became difficult to focus on the work. Like an illness, it consumes you. If you missed one part of the work, then your world explodes and cascades down onto your head like a ton of bricks."

"Ouch."

"Your mother wants me to try to live without it for once, she's right, I can't take much more than I can handle. Just one day with you two might help ease everything and get my course set straight again, besides, there is so much to do to complete your education."

"Why does the blue Smurflings work anyway?" asked Cherskey.

"Papa Smurf has them to, I don't actually approve but he's the boss. Old folks like him are mostly conservative, their brains had forever rust solid due to age as the neurons slowly degrade and die. They have trouble learning new things, so they unconsciously refuse to learn anymore. Sure they might still be able to acquire new knowledge, but that's only in their way of thinking. They will tremble in fear or be ridiculously amaze at something so simple when it comes to math and science. I don't blame them, time goes by fast."

"What about Grandpa Smurf?"

"He mellowed with old age, you might have some luck with old folks who mellowed."

"Ancients perhaps?" asked Nelly.

"We're surrounded by ancients, we as a species are new to this old world. See those trees, they're hundreds of years old. That big-ass Great Oak Tree, Grandpa Smurf planted it long ago when he was a smurfling. Now look at it, its big enough for a bear to live inside it, assuming that the bear can hollow the tree out and such."

Chernov made a turn and slowly they began to head uphill, few minutes later, Chernov was able to see above the treeline. It wasn't long before he approached a small flat area where he could park the smurfvee, once he stopped he turned off the electric engine and unbuckled the seatbelt, "What is this place dad?" ask Cherskey.

"This place is called Iron Hill, it is one of the few highest hills in the region. The hill is too rigid for any humans to climb, but its good enough for small critters like us to walk its face. Iron Hill was established sometime after the first red smurf attack in the Post-Humanoid war era, the green smurfs crafted the mountain for a strategic vantage in the region. It turned out that the hill was utterly useless, other than the solid iron ores that lie deep within its heart, hence the name Iron Hill."

"What do we do now?" asked Cherskey.

"We climb. See those wooden stairs, that's one of the few ways up to the summit."

The green smurfs got out of the smurfvee before Chernov locked it, the twins began to follow their father as he started climbing the wooden stairs he talked about. The stairs looked gray and a little old, some of the steps were rotted by mold and termites, some steps were cracked and busted. Since the stairs were bolted into the face of the hill and its rails were made out of copper, the stairway seemed safe enough. The walk up the hill was short, after climbing about 3 stories the green smurfs reached the summit.

Once there, Chernov did a bit of a security sweep. The summit was a bit wide, in fact it was big enough for the green smurfs to build an outpost up here. 5 towers made out of wood and copper dot each side of Iron Hill, as the interior had only 4 square concrete bunkers and a single landing pad for Vertical Takeoff & Landing (VTOL) vehicles built in, the abandoned green smurf outpost was derelict with its coding of paint flaking off, vegetation was covering the structures as they decay from lack of maintenance. Chernov remembered that the outpost was abandoned since last year, he wasn't sure if anyone had pissed around this hill between the day it had been abandoned and today. What Chernov did know was that the green smurfs left everything there rather than taking it with them, so it was a time capsule in a sense.

He glanced at the flag pole, its rope swayed in the wind like the time it once had a flag. All doubt that this was a green smurf outpost was thrown out the window once the green smurfs saw the green hammer & sickle, painted on the face on the side of one of the bunkers as vegetation and weather tries to erode it away. "Stick close kids," said Chernov, "There's no telling if anyone is still living here."

Chernov approached the main bunker as the twins followed, he looked for any sign of recent activity and listened for anything unusual. The front door of the bunker was a solid steel door, its white paint had cracked and the elements corroded the metal inside. Heck, all of the bunkers were painted white. Back then, they were painted white to symbolize their colors. Painting of military bunkers changed from white to a camouflage pattern just a few months ago, it seemed like a long time since it had been last painted. Chernov grabbed the door handle and attempted to turn it, it didn't budge, so he put in some muscle before the handle popped open and the door creaked open, releasing a smell that's similar to the body odor of Grandpa Smurf into his nostrils.

"Stay outside," said Chernov, "Holler if there are any problems."

"Okay dad." said the twins in unison.

He pulled out his flashlight and clicked it on, then head inside the bunker. Inside the pitch blackness of the bunker lay green smurf equipment and books, all were covered in dust. Surprisingly everything seemed to be in good working order, maybe the bunker did a good job at protecting it all from the elements. CRT computers and radio equipment lay in the far back of the room where the green smurfs left it long ago, the bookshelves stalked with books from the early days after the Humanoid Wars still stood without any sign of decay.

Chernov heads into the back room, his flashlight revealed a small conference table with wooden chairs scooted underneath. In the back was a fridge, a microwave, and a small wood-burning stove. He approached the fridge and opened it up, it was empty. _Thank god that my half-siblings cleaned out the fridge, _thought Chernov, _Or else this place will smell like death._

He returned to his children who were waiting outside, "The place is vacant, let's check the other bunkers."

"Kay dad." said Cherskey.

Chernov continued his security sweep, checking the towers and the tree other bunkers. One bunker was a barracks, rows of bunk beds perfectly made as the footlockers were cleaned out. The cafeteria bunker was also empty, rows of tables and benches were covered with dust as the kitchen was cleaned out with food, only the utensils and cooking equipment remained. Finally, the utility bunker, which was mostly filled with rusted tools and equipment. Chernov looked around in there and found the generator that powered the outpost, still in good condition besides the slight rust on its surface. He had his back turned when he heard the familiar cranking of the cord being pulled, Chernov turned around and saw Cherskey giving the ignition cord a good pull before the generator roared to life. The LED lights of the bunker flickered on, illuminating the bunker's interior.

"We've got power." said Cherskey.

"How ironic," said Chernov, "This place is still functional after all."

**. . .**

For hours, Chernov sat back outside as the children played around in the outpost. When the twins got tired, they head inside the Command Center to check out the stuff stored inside. After going through several of the books on the shelves, they turned their attention towards the communications equipment. They managed to turn on the computers and dust off the CRT screens, once set up they went through the files stored on the computer. Most of it was insignificant, just daily logs about the outpost and weather. Not one single thing was interesting, no wonder the outpost had been abandoned in the first place.

"Anything on the computers bro?" asked Nelly.

"Just random crap," said Cherskey, "Nothing useful."

"Damn."

Nelly turned towards the HAM radio and took a look at it, "I wonder if this still works."

She pushed the power button and the HAM radio booted to life, and the familiar voice of Richard Reznov buzzed through the speakers, "Former Secretary of Defense Gregory Reznov had finally been laid to rest this afternoon," said Rick, "It won't be long till he fade from our memory, I like to thank those who had attended his funeral, as it was the very first in the Green Smurf Colony."

"I like to thank you for not crying in the middle of it Rick," chuckled Cherskey as he propped his legs on the table and tilt the chair back, "That would probably ruin anyone's day."

"In other news, we had received reports of red smurf scouts near the Green Smurf Colony once again. Though these reports remained unconfirmed, an Attack Watch had been placed on the colony for the next three days. Speaking of warfare, the recently appointed Secretary of Defense, Chad Reznov, had invented a new scope for our assault rifles. It is nothing new of course, but he successfully made a prototype of the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, also known as ACOG. This gunsight will increase its users accuracy to a ridiculous level. It is expected to go into mass production next week. For just..."

Rick paused for a moment before changing the subject, "Well looky here, Secretary of Defense Chad Reznov had just walked in. Hey bro, how are things?"

"Fine Rick," said Chad, "Had the tears dried yet?"

"Please don't tease me Chad."

"Okay then."

"So what are you here for?"

"I always wondered about Supreme Commander Chernov Reznov, he seemed like another person to me."

"Why you say that Chad?"

"Had you noticed Rick, he's been kinda down lately. I know he always feels a bit down, but this time its serious. Ever since the recent red smurf attack, Chernov wouldn't even speak to anyone. Rachael, his girlfriend, had told me about his problems and feeling alone inside their house."

"What about Papa Smurf, what was his opinion?"

"Papa Smurf confirmed Chernov's problems, siting that he couldn't take his job as he used to. I always wondered what goes on inside his head, he's a great leader, yet the way I see it, he couldn't even lead himself."

"What are you saying Chad?"

"I'm saying that our half-brother is suffering from depression, the popular belief was that he was saddened by _not _growing up without a mother and didn't had the time to enjoy his brief childhood: A mere 100 days. When he's angry at any of us, or so angry that us, that he puts his boot to where it hurts if you know what I'm saying. He punched me in the eye for injuring a member of an endangered species for example."

"I don't blame him Chad, he's trying to find a balance between his siblings and his children. To him, its a challenge, and I'm sure some people like a good challenge."

"You're missing my point Rick, he needs help, even if he had to be dragged awhile kicking and screaming."

"I don't actually understand his past well enough, what did he spend his entire childhood doing?"

"Our father trained him, trained him to till he was at the breaking point. It was a bit of tough love, it wasn't the love he wanted."

Nelly turned off the HAM radio in shock, the twins remained silent for a minute to let the feeling sink in. The two looked at each other for a brief second before they scrambled towards the door, Cherskey fell off his chair and quickly got back up as the duo ran outside. They saw Chernov, who was laying against a small tree awhile facing over the landscape as the sun nears the horizon. They calmly walked over to him and sat beside him, snuggling up into his side in the process, "Had enough to look at?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Cherskey, "I need to ask you something dad."

"What is it?"

"Are you depressed?"

"I'm afraid so, did Rick told you on that HAM radio in the bunker?"

"Yup." said Nelly.

"Well kids," said Chernov as he placed his arms over their shoulders, "Its a long story, your grandfather made my childhood brief using this hormone in a form of a special powder dissolved in milk. Drinking the stuff made me feel good, and I nearly got addicted. Since he stopped giving the stuff to me, I had been in the downtime ever since. It was a bit rude, maybe violent at those early days. But you two and Rachael made life worth living. Though deep down, something was missing."

"What's missing?"

"A legacy I presume, I don't know what to leave behind once the world doesn't need me anymore."

"How about that machete," said Cherskey, "Can I have it once you grow old and mellow?"

Chernov's signature machete completed his image, he used it to gut his hunting kills and slaughter red smurfs with a single slash. The familiar long blade with a chip above its center that allowed for shredding was precious to him, he simply looked at Cherskey with a grin, "Over my dead body."

"Agreed."

"Can we go home now," asked Nelly, "The forest feels spooky when its dark."

"Sure Nelly," said Chernov, "Let's shut off that generator Cherskey turned on, then let's go home."

"Okay."

"Speaking of home," said Cherskey, "I can see it from here."

"Where?"

"Over there."

The green smurfs had to focus their eyes a little, but they can see the tiny mushroom houses over at the distance. The Smurf Village was within sight, albeit barely, "Is that 4 kilometers?" asked Cherskey.

"Yup," said Chernov, "I guess this hill isn't so useless after all, let's get outta here kids."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	11. Act I: Chapter XI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter XI_

That night, General Dragovich called upon his three colonels for an important meeting inside the war room in the VIP Bunker. The Colonels were somewhere between 400 and 500 years old, they were far more older than General Dragovich, who was only 175 years old. Their task was to lead in the battlefield which they were failing at the moment. Dragovich hoped their minds weren't in a fog as the Elder Smurf, as it would put his mission in jeopardy.

The oldest of the trio was Colonel Alexander Izotov at around age 514, his hair was starting to turn gray and his eyesight was failing a little bit. He had been training in the army since a young age, sometimes his father made him skip dinner at times and sleep outside, or push him to the limits. In other words, his childhood was hell. But when he turned into an adult, he managed to get a high-ranking position in the army and wound up as colonel at his 300th birthday. He never advanced to a higher position ever since, and with good reason, being colonel was as high as he can go.

The other was Colonel Peter Nikolai at around age 483, he started his military training when he was barely into his teens. He was known for having serious muscle in his youth, rumor has it that he disemboweled his brother using nothing but his right hand. His childhood was somewhat similar to Izotov's, only without the hard loved father as Nikolai's dad had died before he was born. As far as Nikolai had seen, was mostly death rather than destruction. He had endured harsh times in his day, and he hoped he wouldn't relived those harsh moments in his childhood as long as he lived.

The youngest of the trio was Colonel Adrey Antosha somewhere around age 470. He was mostly trained as a scout back in his day, but he found himself being a military leader just a few weeks before the death of the Elder Smurf. His past wasn't fairly understood, Dragovich knew however that his mother was great at cooking. He's a bit of a quiet one, and wasn't well known until Dragovich promoted him Colonel just a few years ago. He accepted the job, and did no better than the other two colonels. Heck, they did no better than him as well.

All of the colonels wore the same type of uniform: A lime green jacket covered in embroidered insignias, a dark green beret, a pair of lime green trousers, and a pair of black boots. They all stood somewhere around Dragovich's height. First appearance will say they look somewhat frail, as their age was catching up to them. Dragovich knew them since he was a smurfling, and always feels teased when being around them. Nonetheless, they're good soldiers, even if they're old enough to retire. The knowledge they had gathered over the years was the only thing that kept them afloat, or Dragovich would replace them for better strategists.

In the war room where they surround a round wooden table covered with the maps of the area encompassing the blue and green smurf civilizations, Dragovich was ready to reveal his plan. "Greetings comrades," he said, "Tonight, I bring you one of the most strategic operations we will ever conduct."

"If it's something other than fighting the green smurfs directly," said Izotov, "Say it."

"We're going to turn our guns at the Smurf Village."

"Hold on," said Nikolai, "Did you just said _the _Smurf Village?"

"Yes," said Dragovich, "I stand correct."

"In the name of the Motherland," said Antosha, "You're going to strike at the home of the Wunderwaffe?"

As expected, his colonels were going against the plan. Somehow, he must convinced their aging brains that this was the way to go. Dragovich quickly thought of a plan, and found one, "A green smurf against an entire army?"

"There are at least 105 blue smurfs," said Nikolai, "Plus 4 green smurfs including the Wunderwaffe."

"With a force of 2,000?"

"Seems reassuring," said Izotov, "How long do you think the green smurfs will mobilize if word gets out?"

"Their Air Force, less than 15 minutes. Their army, 2 hours, give or take. Their vertibirds alone would turn the tide against us, so we must strike fast in order to commandeer every single blue smurf in that sh#thole."

"Sounds fanciful," said Antosha, "I doubt it will ever work."

"That's if we use our conventional tactics, we're going to rethink the way we do an invasion. Do I have to go over that golden rule again?"

Izotov sighed, "In order to beat your enemy, you must know your enemy."

"Exactly, so yesterday I sent in Sergei to do some recon of the Smurf Village. The fellow brought back good news, as the village is largely undefended with literally _no _guards at night. Even Reznov, who's supposing nocturnal, was dead asleep."

"You know Sergei had been influenced by those green skins," said Antosha, "How do you know if he hadn't played double-agent on you?"

"He's been my close friend since early childhood, I know how he works. Even if he defects against us, he won't turn me down as a friend. If he becomes a POW to the green smurfs again, Reznov will make him an ambassador. Through him, we can talk to the enemy directly. Remember, keep your friends close, keep your enemies _closer_."

"True," said Nikolai, "So what did the conscript gathered during his recon?"

"He took these photos and notes."

Dragovich sat the photos and the journal Sergei made on the table, the colonel went over them for a few minutes before Izotov pointed out one photo in particular, "I know that smurf," he said, "I know his face, his eyes, and those clothes. He visited our Motherland in age's past and made good friends with the Elder Smurf, I was only a smurfling at the time, I had to admit I spend a lot of time with him during his stay."

"You're pulling my leg?" asked Nikolai.

"I'm afraid not comrade."

"Holy sh#t." said Antosha.

"The smurf is known as Grandpa Smurf now," said Dragovich, "He is one of two VIPs we must capture, the other is the current village leader, tauntingly wearing red."

"I'm surprise that Grandpa Smurf is still alive," said Izotov, "He's like what, a thousand years now? I never thought I would ever heard from him again, it's been so long. By god, this is starting to look like your plan will be in our favor."

"I was hoping you would say that."

"Don't get cocky General," said Antosha as he waved a finger at him, "You were a spoiled little brat from those old days and you're still showing some of those traits in some ways."

"No he wasn't _that _spoiled," said Nikolai, "The Elder Smurf set him straight."

"Speaking of the old days," said Dragovich, "The past may be in our favor. Izotov, once we captured the blue smurfs, I want you to reveal your relationship with Grandpa Smurf."

"And what will that do?" asked Izotov.

"Divide the blue smurfs," said Dragovich, "Maybe even the green smurfs with the blue smurfs a little bit."

"To come to think of it, that's more cruel than torture."

"Then we shall not harm the blue smurfs in anyway, any red smurf who do any kind of harm whatsoever will be executed without question. Capturing the blue smurfs is one step of the plan, and its the most important."

"What must be done before we invade the Smurf Village?" asked Nikolai.

Dragovich was soon elated, "First, we'll send in a small red smurf squad in during the middle of the night. Their task will be to set up traps for the invasion and perform further recon to see if Sergei missed anything, once they're done they will pull back. By the time the sun is starting to rise, we strike with everything we got before hauling every single blue smurf back here."

"What a massive operation," said Nikolai, "When should we start?"

"The day after the next day," Dragovich says as he leaned over the table using his hands as support, "So before the deadline comes, we will prepare and do recon. I will further inform you about what must be done around morning, this meeting is dismissed."

**. . .**

Colonel Alexander Izotov sat at his desk as he stared at the corner of his room, the desk lamp on the desk was the only light source illuminating the darkened room. He sat there in awe as he thought about Dragovich's plan, the boy he once knew definitely changed alright and his colleges are having trouble figuring that out. Adrian was nothing like the lad he once knew so long ago, it frightened him, but he had little choice. The lad he helped care for the Elder Smurf was now his boss, his way of thinking hadn't changed but his behavior had. It changed so much until he became a totally different person. He was no longer a boy, Adrian was a soldier and will die as one.

Memories, that's all what was left of the old Adrian. Many years ago in the outskirts of the Ural Mountains, the red smurf village was one of many that dot its little kingdom. At the time, Izotov served the Elder Smurf. The problem of the day was famine, disease, and predators. He grew integrated at solving these problems, he thought he would never succeed in ridding these problems until Adrian came into being.

The red smurfette who gave birth to him was no more, died right after bringing him to the world, so Izotov was task by the Elder Smurf to help raise the smurfling. He remembered changing the toddler's diapers for at least 30 years, little Adrian always put up a fuss. He liked to tease and taunt Izotov when he was only trying to take care of his sanitary needs. It was a nightmare, as with all red smurf children. At least that all ended when Adrian started wearing boxers.

When Adrian was around 50 years of age, the Elder Smurf had Izotov train him. Hand to hand combat was a start, then firearms training came around. At the time, they were using semi-automatic rifles and not those fully repeaters both red and green smurfs were at each other's throats with. Adrian was a good marksman, always hit the bulls-eye at around 10 meters, anything beyond that range was another story.

Sergei was a close friend of Adrian, the two always played with each other. Izotov remembered clearly that he got into a fight with several of his peers in order to defend him, which gave Adrian the reputation Antosha had placed upon him: A spoiled brat. He did nothing to punish him, he wasn't sure if punishment work with the red smurfs due to their heartless reptuation. But what Izotov had seen wasn't heartless, it was empathy. Middle age taught him a lot about this feeling, he was by Adrian's side for as long as he could remember, especially when the Elder Smurf had died.

As what Adrian had described, the Elder Smurf's mind was in a fog and was no longer fit to lead. It was rare for anyone to speak like that to their elders, but Izotov agreed, the Elder Smurf had to retire. Adrian was barely a adult when the Elder Smurf died, the last order of the Elder Smurf was that all power should be transferred to him. Something happened that changed Adrian, and into the general everyone know knew. Izotov was aghast, yet kept his opinion a personal secret. Adrian became a dictator, he had many red smurfs executed for not following his orders the way he intended. Power corrupts, Izotov hoped that he might preserve what's left of the Adrian he once knew in General Dragovich. He hoped it wasn't too late.

A knock came to his door, for all Izotov knew it was Adrian, "Come in."

The door opened wide, and Izotov could barely see the form of the red smurf subordinate standing at its frames, "You aren't authorized to be here comrade." he said to the conscript.

"Staff Sergeant Sergei, sir."

General Dragovich's old friend, what does he want? "Had my eyes deceived me into thinking you're someone else?"

"No sir," said Sergei, "You just assumed is all."

Izotov sighed as he swiveled around his chair to face him, "What is it Sergei, you know its getting late."

"I have a bad feeling what Dragovich is trying to pull, I come to you since you're one of the few people in the world who knew Grandpa Smurf the longest. I may be in a similar position as you sir."

"Is it about the Wunderwaffe, who had made friends with you?"

"Why yes comrade, how did you know that?"

"Dragovich knew the predicament we're both in. The prime goal was to seize the gold and technology from the green smurfs when we first discovered them, not wipe them off the face of the earth. But neither side know that."

"What are you going to do Izotov?"

"I'm not sure comrade, these red smurfs are harder to control than we could possibly imagine. A fragile trust that can easily be broken, once it breaks it goes off like a bomb in a chain reaction. If the Elder Smurf was still here, he would be horrified by how the red smurfs are behaving."

"We don't even have the space required to house a hundred and five blue smurfs here, you think Dragovich is going to execute them?"

"No way he can cover up that kind of massacre, but we do have the space here for us to torture them. Clearly the green smurfs are going to be pissed once they found out about the mass kidnapping, and once they're piss we're going to strike at them in full force once they're out of their spiderholes and into no man's land. Even if we made friends with some smurfs, maybe even all of them. One red smurf or a few cannot make a difference, all they can do was watch the chaos unfold before them."

"When I scouted the Smurf Village, I sensed happiness and peace. It was all around me, even in the dead of winter. I'm not sure what will happen once the red smurfs come charging in like a battering ram, since the only thing standing in their way is Chernov."

"If he didn't know how to speak Russian comrade, you wouldn't even be friends with him. The language barrier is all that's separate us from us and them, it will make diplomacy difficult if the situation came into that conclusion."

Sergei moved his hand through his hair and grumbled, "I... I better go now," he said, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight comrade," said Izotov.

"Goodnight sir."

Sergei walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, Izotov sat there for awhile looking at where Sergei once stood. The red smurf appeared he didn't know what he was suppose to do, it may be his first time, or his second considering the situation at the Colony last year. He looked like he was close to defection, and the Red Smurf Army doesn't tolerate defectors. Sergei is what Izotov remembered him as, and always will be. He only wished the same for Adrian.

"So much must be done," Izotov said to himself, "Friend or not, I'll play along against the blue smurfs. Maybe a victory for once will make Dragovich soften up a bit.

Colonel Izotov had Sergei's notes on the recon he performed, and so decided to take a look through them. His handwriting was impressive, and so was his way of words. The little book even contained some side-notes, detailing important info about natural resources and such. The information Sergei had provided echoed his say about the happiness and peace in the village, it was a shame it will all soon be destroyed within 48 hours.

Whatever plan Dragovich had in store for the blue smurfs, if it backfired, then Izotov knew the red smurfs are done for. They would fight to the death before they would surrender, though the numbers he hoped would help fight back the green smurfs if they come around. After about an hour of reading, Izotov finished the book. He sat it back on his desk and got up from his chair to stretch. His aching joints popped and crackle from the stress he had built up in the past week, retirement is an option for him at his age but due to the fact that they were at war against another species, his skills will be needed to the end. He hoped the end will be in the red smurfs favor, failure was no longer an option, "Time for bed." he yawned.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	12. Act I: Chapter XII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter XII_

"Okay Handy," said Chernov, "You hold the electrode in a 45 degree angle and you drag the molten puddle as you weld along the two sheets of metal. Take it slow, remember that you have all day."

"Right Chernov." said Handy.

It was probably a good idea to bring Handy in a green smurf workshop rather than on the actual construction site. The workshops of the Green Smurf Colony are built mostly in the manufacturing GSVs, its also built in other parts of the colony as well but they often go unused by the green smurfs. So Chernov picked one workshop in GSV 1, the green smurfette who owned it didn't mind them using it for today's training as she was busy trying to get a date. Two small cast iron sheets of metal were placed right next to each other until they're touching on top of a copper table, Handy will be welding these sheets of metal together using the Arc Welding Method. Commonly used in the green smurf village for construction of large buildings, they use mostly iron for building since its easier to work with than most metals, and because of the obvious fact that wood _burns_.

"Remember to wear a protective welding mask with the level 10 shades," instructed Chernov, "Anything lower than that will give you a bad case of Welder's Flash and may cause you to go blind, you should also wear some gloves since the metal may get hot. If anything does catch fire, there's a fire extinguisher on hand for that problem."

"You sound almost like Brainy a little bit."

"Except I don't have the glasses and I don't love my own voice. Just relax, strike the metal to get an arc going, and proceed to weld at the desired area. If you're getting annoyed, so am I... So I'm going to shut up now and, let you get on with it now."

Handy got comfortable as he positioned the welding rod at a 45 degree angle. He and Chernov pulled down their welding masks over their faces as Handy made a spark on the metal a flash of light followed by a buzzing sound indicated he just got an arc going. Handy moved the sparkling welding rod over the joints of the welding pad, slowly he began to make his weld awhile using a circular pattern he saw Chernov used during the quick demo earlier. The green smurf watched as Handy stitched the cast iron pieces together in little more than a minute, when Handy was done he took the electrode away and flipped up the mask.

"How is it?" he asked.

Chernov took out a small hammer and chipped away the slag, which builds over the weld when doing arch welding, off of Handy's weld, revealing a silvery finish with a neat pattern, "You did good," said Chernov, "But notice that your weld has a V pattern to it."

"I see it."

"You did the weld too fast, there wasn't enough time for the two metals to fuze completely, which is dangerous on actual construction. Turn the metal around and do it again, as I hold your hand to tune you to the correct speed."

"Okay Chernov."

In the back of Chernov's mind, he knew Handy might not liked that. So he takes it easy as the smurf turns the metal around and Chernov held his hand as he performed the weld again. Surely enough, the weld began to take shape and within a couple of minutes Handy finished the weld. The two smurfs flipped up their welding masks and examined the weld, "There we go," said Chernov, "That's how you do it."

"I'm just wondering Chernov," said Handy as he turned off the welding machine, "Can you take me to a construction site so I can see how the green smurfs build their buildings?"

"Yeah," said Chernov, "Let's clean up and I'll take you to a construction site, I know one not far from here actually."

"Oh good, this is going to be smurfy."

**. . .**

Sally figured the weld would hold, after hammering off all the slag from the weld, it appeared to be the best she could do at the moment. Being tied to a safety harness awhile high some steel girder in the middle of the construction site was dangerous enough, might as well work on the ground and have debris land on your head than falling to your death. She had more work to be done, more steel girders that must be attached to each other, so Sally flipped up the welding mask, remove her electrode from the steel girder, and climbed down from her post to head to the next one.

She wasn't just a welder, Sally was also the pilot of one of three stealth bombers in the Green Smurf Air Force. In peace time, Sally works on construction projects at home and only trains her piloting skills on the weekends. So in the meantime, she gets out the backpack ark welder and gets to work welding girders together that were impossible to bolt together. When welding, it often gets hot. Since green smurfettes don't have upper body _private parts_, there was nothing wrong about them wearing only camouflaged pants.

Green smurfs are tough, they even have skin twice the thickness of that of a human. Many green smurfs who weld sometimes don't have much protection and often have scars on the front of their torsos and arms from the sparks flying off during the welding process and landing on their skins, causing spotty burns. They usually don't notice the burns, even when they smell cooked flesh, most had to actually glance at the burns to realize what happened and that can be hours after welding. Due to the sweat, grease, dust, and rust that covers the green smurfs after a hard day's work in the construction yard, the burns can get infected and cause blood poisoning. So it was important for the green smurfs to be only healthy when on the job or construction accidents will be the least of their problems.

Sally's body had seen its fair share of burns, so much so that it ruined her beauty, she even had a scar on the side of her face after taking a nasty fall. It didn't really matter to her, to her it just proves she can take on serious punishment and get back up into the fight. If her blond hair had caught fire, then she would be worried. To make sure that it won't be incinerated so easily, she kept the front trimmed to her eyebrows and the back to her ears, similar to Rachael's hairstyle but more shorter. She didn't plan to get into a relationship and have kids, Sally plans to rule the skies and be like a god, sending down thunder from a press of a button.

Of course, that was only a dream. For it to come true, they would have to be in a middle of a war. It was not a total disaster though, those vertibirds and Aurora stealth fighter jets are fun to use. Sally can only hope and wait, for now she can only enjoy life as it is.

Just as she was about to climb the next girder, something caught her eye. Down the road, two figures approach. One of them was Chernov, no doubt from the height. But the other smurf was blue, was that Brainy? No, he should have glasses. The blue smurf was wearing a pair of white overalls, when she realized it was Handy, the sight of him hit her hard.

It felt as if someone had shoved their hand into her chest and pulled her heart out, because that's what the feeling was like. Sally felt butterflies flutter in her stomach as her pulse and blood pressure skyrockets. She wasn't used to the feeling, never had it before. Sally knew it was love, and Handy had took her heart away by just showing up. She never had much feelings about him before, actually never even saw him in person, until now. He was getting closer, well into range of facial recognition. Sally sucked it up and tried to act natural, only to realize that was impossible. With the dead weight on her back not helping, Sally walked over to the modular office of the construction sight and sat her welding pack with the unused ones. After wrapping up the cords, she was about to leave when Chernov and Handy were just a meter away.

Somehow, she managed to take control, Chernov's presence always brought control, "Sally," he said, "This is Handy Smurf, you know, the Founder of Smurf Industry?"

"I never actually founded any industry." said Handy.

Chernov nudged him hard in the side, "Don't say the truth Handy, you'll never convince them otherwise."

"Oh yes," said Sally, gaining more success on self-control now, "Made the first smurfmobile as I heard, I always wondered why most of your inventions in the Smurf Village never caught on though."

"I would like to answer that question," said Chernov, "But I can't do it without offending anybody, we'll leave that for Papa Smurf some time in the future."

"What are you too here for?" asked Sally.

"I'm training Handy on some construction methods, show him around the construction yard here so he could get a better understanding with our use of metal."

"I have two questions for you Sally." said Handy.

"Is the first one is the fact that I'm not wearing upper body clothing since I'm a girl, and the second one is about all these swiss cheese looking scars all over my body?"

Handy looked like he was speechless, "Yes."

"Think about it, why would anyone in their bright mind to wear a dress in a construction yard. It's very inappropriate due to the fire hazards and loose machinery. And all of these burns came from past skirmishes against the red smurfs, accidents from the construction sites, and once my vertibird crash because my brothers forgot to refuel it. What do you know, all questions are answered, amazing!"

"You seemed a bit nervous half-sis." said Chernov.

"Nervous! How can I be nervous! I'm perfectly fine!"

Without warning, she felt something poke her in the back and she jumped. She spun around to see some of her green smurf brothers running away, laughing hysterically. "Are you done?" asked Chernov.

Sally took a deep breath and exhales before returning her attention to Chernov and Handy, "Yes, I'm done. Right this way please."

**. . .**

Chernov and Handy followed Sally around as she showed them the many methods and materials used in construction, Handy seemed to be amazed, which was good enough for Chernov. Knowing that Handy brings in all the new innovations into the village, he hoped that he would pull the village out of its primitive ways and into an era of information. It seemed to be a long shot, but he knew the smurfs wouldn't survive if they don't evolve and adapt. For as much as he was concerned, humans may be on the prowl in hunting them for gold and treatment for various diseases. It was obvious that the smurf's luck will run out, he felt it was near.

He walked along as Sally's constant chattering rang madly inside his head, other than that, Chernov can sensed the emotion she was feeling: Love. He saw it in Rachael when he met her, and Sally was no different. Chernov noticed she was mostly looking at Handy when turning her attention at them, he dare not assume Sally was in love with Handy, he did not want to cause that kind of problem.

Sally excused herself to use the bathroom for a moment, as she headed off to the nearby portable latrine Chernov saw she was walking a little to fast. When she got inside the lime green portable toilet, she shut and locked the door behind her.

"Chernov?" asked Handy.

"Yeah?" asked Chernov.

"She seemed a bit off, I know that may be usual for green smurfettes but Sally seemed to be... you know, anxious."

"I think she has some feelings for you, did you notice she was looking at you most of the time?"

"You mean, she's in love with me?"

"I'm already taken, so Sally had to be interested in you."

"Oh, I'm not sure how it's going to wo-"

"Handy, don't be picky at women. Never come to women, let them come to _you_. When the time comes, she would reveal her affections to you."

"Okay Chernov."

Seems that the blue smurfs are seeing him as a leader, Chernov finds it so easy to work with the blue smurfs as they never gave him much stress as the green smurfs do. How about that, they make great followers but he wasn't sure about great soldiers. Chernov wasn't sure if they had the will to take lives, they're just to sweet and kind for that kind of act. Hefty and Handy would might, but the rest of the smurfs were another story. He hoped it would come down into that situation, fear of corruption weighs heavily on his head from the green smurfs' human-like lifestyle, and it appeared worse than he could ever imagine.

The door to the nearby portable toilet flied open and Sally stepped out, after adjusting her trousers she returned to the smurfs all ready to go, "So what do you think about our methods so far Handy?"

"I'm just amaze that there's a lot of professionals here," said Handy, "Back in the village, I was the only one there, but here, they looked like they'd been doing this for centuries!"

"Like a cavemen amazed at a rocket ship," said Chernov, "You'll get used to it Handy, at least you'll have some insurance if you have a problem."

"Thanks Sally for everything," said Handy as he shook her hand, "I need to smurf back to the Smurf Village to get some projects done, I'll smurf you back when I need something, okay?"

"Right Handy," said Sally, "Just stop by sometime and visit, all smurfs get lonely too easily."

"Let's go Handy," said Chernov, "Bye Sally, just don't get hurt when I'm gone, you half-siblings worth too much trouble as it is."

"Bye bro, take care."

As Chernov and Handy walked away, the blue smurf sighed, "Ah I'm never going to get used to this."

"You will," said Chernov, "I'll beat all the doubt out of you, I'll promise you that."

"Thanks." said Handy, sounding unsure what Chernov meant.

**. . .**

Sally found herself running down one of the main roads of the colony, she ran as fast as her feet could take her and managed to reach her spiderhole. She ran up to the door and opened it then ran inside before shutting it, Sally pressed her back against the door as she slid down to the floor, panting hardly. Her house had the usual concrete walls and floor, along with the footlocker and metal framed bed. The stove however was a wood burner and not a gas one, since there wasn't any pipelines of natural gas nearby. This was home, she hadn't lived in it much since she was so busy working. She only used the place to sleep, and that's about it.

She recovered from her exhaustion and started a small fire in her cast iron stove, once she got the fire burning Sally laid down on the plush bed and wait for the cold air to be taken away by warmness. Her heart still felt sore from being love-stricken, and it felt worse when being away from Handy. Like a key fitting into a lock, Sally had found love just like that. They say a crush hurts, Sally thought they were right. She buried her head into her pillow and rubbed one of many scars on her that were getting irritated. Anytime she's stressed, the scars seemed to show it by wanting to be scratched, it was probably a leftover from the healing process. To treat the scars, Sally rubbed them with some sunflower oil when they get irritated, she didn't really need it since the itching was tolerable, Sally just used sunflower oil as a placebo.

Now it was one of those times she needed that sunflower oil, so Sally grabbed one of the bottles of the stuff from underneath her bed, dab some on her hand, then smear it all over the front of her pop-marked torso. The oil calmed her nerves almost instantly and the scars on her body eases their irritation. She got onto her back and stared up at the ceiling as she sat the sunflower oil bottle aside. Under the dim LED Bulb that lit up the room, she thought about Handy being with her.

She tried to convince herself that Handy was way older than her, he was her uncle-in-law, and he was unavailable. It didn't work, her love for him was strong. When Sally realized she couldn't walk away from him, she just had to find a way to get his attention and confess her love to him. Sally just hoped she doesn't have any competition, or else it would all be over before it even began.

There was a knock on the door, Sally groaned as she got off the bed and answered it, "Chad," said Sally, "Nice to see you."

"Hey Sal," said Chad, "Are you up to flying today?"

"Yes."

"Good, I knew I can count on one of my elite pilots like you."

"So what are we doing?"

"Testing out some new bombs we had developed, they're tipped with proximity charges. I'll explain more on the way."

"Okay."

Her thoughts about Handy would have to be left at home for the time being, Sally was glad Chad's random visit pulled her head out of the gutter. Flying is her only love, or is it?

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	13. Act I: Chapter XIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter XIII_

Chernov and Handy returned to the Smurf Village, it was already afternoon as the sun was trickling down the horizon like a drop of water on a window pane. Whatever Handy wanted to get done, it seemed to be very important. Before Chernov even parked the smurfvee, Handy was already out and running back to his house without saying a word. With renewed confidence from Rachael's advice, he figured he could spend his free time checking on some _insurance_ he had stashed away in case of an emergency.

He head over to his house, passing the bustling Smurf Village as a few smurfs sang that annoying smurf song. Chernov approached the secret cache, it was buried at the edge of the Smurf Village just behind his house. It wasn't buried that deep, Chernov didn't even need to use a shovel, he just got onto his knees and dug with his hands. After digging for a little bit, he found the cache was still there: A copper box sealed with wax and duct tape. The box was rectangular and had been painted entirely white and had the green hammer & sickle painted on its lid. He didn't bothered opening it to check its contents, he was convinced that it all still there. Chernov covered up the small hole with dirt and washed his hands in the nearby lake. With that done, its time to check on the radar and communications equipment.

It was a primitive system, the crude radar system was Pre-Humanoid War technology. Chernov hadn't bothered upgrading it, as he was too preoccupied with his career. The radar mass was simply a long thin copper wire tethered up the highest tree in the village, followed by a small decoder and relay system. The radar screen was CRT, and it was bad quality. The system was designed to sound an alarm, alerting Chernov to any UFO's flying in the Smurf Village's airspace about 2 to 4 kilometers away. It had only been upgraded once, though it was still functioning since it can pick up incoming vertibirds and such.

Chernov walked back inside his house and examined the electronic equipment, they were working as normally, not too bad for a computer that had never been shut off in a year. He checked the connections and everything, nothing was melting nor weathering down from age. He then checked his HAM radio, which was also Pre-Humanoid War technology. It seemed to be working just fine. Chernov glanced at the captured red smurf CB radio, it just sat there for a few days and he hadn't even bothered touching it. He had direct access to enemy comms, Chernov sighed. _What the heck. _He thought.

He turned on the CB radio, immediately it began spewing out Russian voices. Chernov translated the first few words that came out of its speaker, _"Who wants vodka for party? And who wants to see my-"_

Chernov turned off the CB radio in disgust, "These red smurfs are just as immature as my siblings," he said to himself, "Crap."

"Hello?" said a voice.

Chernov turned towards the door and saw Papa Smurf stepped through, "How was that lesson with Handy?" asked Papa Smurf.

"It went well," said Chernov, "No problems at all."

"Good, I'm just checking up on you is all. May I ask what you're doing at the moment."

"I've just the radar system, it's doing fine but I'm not sure if its that reliable in an air attack. I'm going to get a new radar system installed soon, with the assassination attempt on my life days earlier, Rachael seemed to be getting nervous everytime I leave for something."

"You know how women are."

"As far as I can tell, she wouldn't let go of me when I got up in the morning. I had to slide my way out of her arms just to get dress and start the day, if you know of anyone who sleeps with a death grip, let me know."

A smurf popped into view and got Papa Smurf's attention, "Papa Smurf," he said, "Brainy's stuck in a tree."

"How did he got up there?" Papa Smurf asked.

"Hefty smurfed him out of the village again and Brainy landed in a tree, and now he wouldn't come down because Hefty wasn't done smurfing him yet."

"Oh smurf," sighed Papa Smurf, "I better go Chernov."

"Do what you have to do Pap's."

Papa Smurf and the smurf ran off as the front door slowly closed itself, once it shut Chernov heads into the bedroom and stripped to his boxers. He climbed into the bed and laid there for a moment, it won't hurt if he slept a little to early. Chernov yawned and hugged his pillow, it wasn't long before the tired green smurf fell fast asleep.

**. . .**

Around the sun's mystic crown, Fort Romanov was bustling with activity. As soon as the night sky was fully visible, Dragovich would deploy the army and moved them into position. Officially the red and green smurfs weren't at war with each other, since none of the leaders had declared war. That was all about to change. Dragovich planned it carefully, a little incentive will lure the green smurfs out of their tiny colony and once they're out in no-man's land, the red smurfs can kill them without any problems. To perform that incentive, the red smurfs are going to need some bait.

That bait would be the 105 blue smurfs who swore peace and so-called neutrality. Capturing them all is one thing, getting the Papa Smurf within the grasp of an iron fist is invaluable. General Dragovich knew that the death of the old fart will psychologically decapitate both the green and blue smurfs, obviously more severely for the blue smurfs, which will pave they for their downfall.

Of course, their was that Chernov issue to deal with however. He would be a serious problem and may even put the plan in jeopardy. There's no doubt that Chernov would be overwhelmed, so he would wisely call for reinforcements once he figured out he couldn't bite more than he could chew. If the Green Smurf Colony were to be alerted, it would take a regiment of green smurfs to arrive at the Smurf Village within 10 to 30 minutes. Dragovich needs more time getting in and out of the area, and he knew how to buy it.

The first stage of the plan was to send in a team of red smurfs to prep the village for the invasion awhile under the cover of darkness, these red smurfs were called Spetsnaz, which means "special purpose forces." In the Red Smurf Army, they were the elite. The average Spetsnaz conscript was required to survive at least 20 battles, 99% of red smurfs failed to survive that long as the 1% lived to tell the tale. The Spetsnaz were Dragovich's loyalists, they will fight and die for him.

Even with the best planning and soldiers, Dragovich faced the unrealistic possibility of moving 105 blue smurfs. He can bring in an airship and take the smurfs away in that, but that was a luxury since it wastes a lot of time. Bringing in twinblades into the Smurf Village would be much easier since they're more faster and agile, but that would have to wait till morning since Chernov cannot be awoken during the covert operation. Dragovich will send in some twinblades but they will have to remain out of earshot from the village, the Spetsnaz conscripts will have to hike most of the way to and from the village once they reach the drop zone.

General Dragovich made his way to the war room and met up with the Spetsnaz leader, when he got there Dragovich saw the team leader standing before him at the other side of the table. He was already wearing the black recon uniform needed for tonight's mission, "Cousin Oleg," said Dragovich, "Its great to have you aboard."

"Cousin Adrian slash General Dragovich, sir." said Oleg as he shook his hand.

Oleg Dragovich was General Dragovich's cousin, he had been a close supporter since the early years of childhood and the first few days of power. General Dragovich knew Oleg wouldn't let him down, though he would provide _family love_ if he'd failed. "So what must be done coz?" asked Sergeant Dragovich.

"Infiltrate the Smurf Village and prep it for the invasion by placing explosive non-lethal traps in the area. You are _not _authorized to kill any of the blue and green smurfs there, do you understand that?"

"What if we're on the verge of being compromised?"

"Your weapons will be outfitted with tranquilizing rounds, just aim your SK at them and aim for their torso. For hand-to-hand combat, gag them and give them a solid whack in the corroded artery, they should pass out from the blow. Remember these words well coz, because it will be vital in the mission. You're going in there with 20 red smurfs, you leave with that same number plus some live cargo."

"What will the live cargo be?"

"Some blue smurfs you happened to find along the way, and the Wunderwaffe's offspring."

The look on Oleg's face began to show doubt, "You say kidnap Chernov's kids?"

"Correct," said General Dragovich, "Don't be surprised if they know me personally, I had captured them before, they were quite a handful as I can tell from past experience."

"Dah, I'll get the job done as you command general."

"You'll be fully briefed along with your Spetsnaz soldiers by Colonel Izotov, he'll be accompanying you during your mission."

"Izotov, I always liked the old smurf."

"You'll like him more when the elder blue smurfs meet him, old farts from different cultures tend to not get along. He even knows one of them personally, its hard to believe you know."

Oleg chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind."

"You're dismissed, good luck cousin."

**. . .**

Night had fallen, and Oleg Dragovich found himself and his team of 20 Spetsnaz conscripts flying over the forest towards the drop off point. As far as his skills and years of training can go, this was the greatest task he had ever pulled yet. In the nearly pitch blackness of the twinblade, he sat there, buckled into his seat in a room stuffed with live bodies. Izotov sat next to him and a comrade at the other side, it was uncomfortable yet Oleg never complained, the loud drone of the twinblade forbids any conversation at all. The pilots themselves seemed to be calm, Oleg could tell by just looking at them. His red smurfs, well some of them, seemed to be a bit nervous. They hadn't been told what they're going to do, nor were they informed where they're going. As far as everything seemed, there was still time to turn around and head back to Fort Romanov.

"Okay," said the pilot, his voice amplified through a loud intercom that nearly pierced Sergeant Dragovich's ears, "We're about to land at drop off point in 5 minutes. Once we land, we're not going to return home until mission is complete."

No one bothered to ask the pilot the question, "What is the mission anyway?", since it was so damn loud. Oleg wondered if anyone had tried to shout, he doubt it. He couldn't even hear himself scream in that tight space. Oleg looked out the porthole window and got a glimpse of one of many twinblades following them, 4 of the 8 double-rotored helos had his team in it, the rest was for something he not know. Izotov will tell him soon enough. He squeezed the silenced barrel of his Suppressed SK-47 which was positioned vertically between his legs, he bet the Smurf Village will be so quiet that a silencer wouldn't be enough when the weapon fires. A sentry with a good ear might hear that mechanical _click_ sound or the ballistics recoil of the weapon, he hoped the tranquilizer ammunition was designed for the suppressor attachment of his weapon.

"Okay," said the pilot, "We're just about to land, get ready."

_Get on with it. _Oleg thought.

The twinblade began to slow down as Oleg felt it descend, next he felt a soft thought and the cargo bay doors on both sides slid open automatically. Everyone took off their seatbelts and climbed out of the twinblade to join the rest of the Spetsnaz team. Oleg saw that they were in a small clearing, the clearing contained some abandoned buildings covered in moss and slime deposited by Mother Nature. He recognized the designs of the buildings, they appeared to be made by red smurf hands. There were several abandoned S-74 tanks and jeeps pop-marking the area, they were horribly damaged beyond repair. Bullet holes riddled the buildings and the derelict locomotives, some fight must had taken place here in the past.

Above them was the night sky, or so it seemed. The clouds were covering up more of the stars, including Polaris (commonly known as the North Star). Seemed that the weather had changed when they left Fort Romanov, the air was more colder than before, making Sergeant Dragovich shiver. He had dealt with worse, his homeland was much more brutal than Western Europe. Thankfully his Spetsnaz uniform and bulletproof vest kept him warm enough to tolerate the cold, or else it would be all but impossible to remain focused on the mission.

As the last of the helos powered down, Oleg asked Izotov, "What is this place comrade?"

"A former base of ours," said the old Colonel, "All the damage you see here was done by the Wunderwaffe, this is what he is capable of as one green smurf admits weak creatures. We will use it for the time being and establish a temporary HQ. Okay Spetsnaz, gather around and let me debrief you on your mission."

The Spetsnaz huddled within arm's reach of Izotov and Sergeant Dragovich as the old smurf began to speak, "General Adrian Dragovich will remain silent on why are we here, listen."

All the red smurfs listened, it was dead silent, the only thing they were able to hear was the sound of the wind whistling by their ears, "This forest has eyes and ears everywhere," said Izotov, "It may seemed peaceful but we're deep within enemy territory, we have no reinforcements and if we're captured then we'll spend the rest of our lives in their gulag awhile under the mercy of the Wunderwaffe. Do I have to remind you red smurfs about what happened to that unauthorized assassination party?"

"_Nyet._" said the red smurfs in unison.

"Okay, here's the mission: Half of the team will remain here to guard the helicopters awhile the other half heads deep into the Smurf Village. We have at least three sentries to worry about other than the Wunderwaffe, a dog, a crane, and this pink bear creature I know not what is called. Take those creatures out, and our chances of success are good. If we're compromised, we will be forced to abort the mission and we'll be deemed traitors to the Motherland. Here's what needs to be done, non-lethal claymores and smoke bombs will be placed all over the colony. As this is happening, we'll be kidnapping 25% of the smurfs from the village, most of which would be near the Wunderwaffe himself."

A red smurf raised his hand, "Why 25%?"

"To make it easier to bag the rest of the village during the invasion, we can't move all of the blue smurfs at once you know. We'll also need to locate the electric cables connecting the Smurf Village and the Green Smurf Colony and cut them, so the Wunderwaffe won't be calling reinforcements when he realized the sh#t has hit the fan. Sergeant Oleg Dragovich here will be pointing out where everything needs to go, note that even though the Smurf Village is 80 square meters big it is still easy to get lost. Once everything is in place, we'll do a little bit of more recon before getting outta there. You all got it?"

"Da." said the red smurfs in unison.

"Remember that when we return to the Motherland, we will restore her to her greatness. Make the general proud and you make the Motherland proud, dismissed comrades and happy hunting."

The Spetsnaz team began to split up and grab a hold of the claymores, smoke bombs, and flashbang traps set out for them by the pilots. As they gathered up the gear, Sergeant Dragovich walked up to Izotov and sighed, "To the looks of the skies, the snow is going to fall soon. When it does, the indirect light will be amplified and we'll stand out like a sore thumb. How much time do we have Colonel before nature turns on us?"

"I don't know comrade," said Izotov, "Snow or no snow, we're going to do what we came here for. We have plenty of hours before dawn, so there isn't too much to worry about."

"Are you sure you will be alright Izotov?"

"Don't worry about me boy, I may be old but I'm still got plenty of fight in me."

"Now I had to ask this important question, what to do with the village leader and his mentor. Do we kidnap them or leave them for the invasion?"

"Capturing the leaders is important, either do it now or wait till the invasion, your choice."

"Adrian said about having you meet with them in person as a joke, he also mentioned you know one of them personally."

"Alas, I do. The world's oldest smurf happens to be in that Smurf Village. He wears yellow and had this enormous white beard, the current village leader would be in red with a short white beard so the too will stand out more than the other blue smurfs. The Wunderwaffe would stand around 10 centimeters tall, about as tall as your cousin. When you see him, do whatever you can on not to get your ass compromised."

"Da, sir."

"We're about ready to go Comrade Dragovich," said one of the Spetsnaz conscripts, "Its all on you."

"We'll move now," said Oleg, "Let's go guys." He turned back towards Izotov, "Whatever happens, please be here when I come back."

"You won't see me leaving this area until we're done, good luck comrade."

"Thanks Izotov."

Oleg sets his SK-47 to semi-auto and clenched the grip and barrel, its time to put the plan to action.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	14. Act I: Chapter XIV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter XIV_

Oleg and his Spetsnaz soldiers walked in a straight line as they moved through the forest, they tried not to make much noise along the way since the outdoors proved to be more silent than expected. If a pin were to be dropped and heard, then so will someone's breath. It was unnerving for Oleg, if anyone gets injured, he was to blame and will take the full consequences. So he positioned himself at the front of the line and led the way, all of the other smurfs will act on cue if something goes awry as Oleg reacts to it. Sergeant Dragovich had the red smurfs wear soft sole boots and placed suppressors on their weapons. They brought with them night-vision goggles to see well in the dark, and had them bathe with anti-body odor shower gel to get rid of most of their scent. The only thing they did not brought with them was radio comms, either its because of the risk of discovery or it was simply forgotten, the Spetsnaz had to make do without communication back at HQ.

As much as they can try to remain hidden, Oleg knew the three animals Izotov had mentioned about would still needed to be taken care of. He signaled his conscripts to pick up the pace and they all walked a little faster. As they continued, a twig snapped. Oleg held up his hand and the squad stopped in their tracks, it was already getting way to dark since Oleg couldn't see a thing. The snapped twig sounded like it came up ahead of them instead of behind, it got him worried.

"Night-vision goggles on." he whispered.

The Spetsnaz conscripts had their goggles on their foreheads, they simply moved them in front of their eyes and they were ready to go. Oleg puts his over his eyes and immediately the world became green and bright, he felt like a predator instead of prey. After looking around, Oleg didn't see any creatures other than his red smurfs stirring about. He relaxed a little and signalled his red smurfs to move, his squad began to move and they continued the rest of the walk. Taking a deep breath, Oleg told himself their was plenty of time till dawn and there was nothing to be worried about.

After further travel, it wasn't long before Oleg can see a couple of mushroom buildings peaking over the vegetation ahead, they slowed down as they approach a patch of hibernating bushes blocking their way. Just as Oleg was about to push the branches aside, he noticed that there were unusual thorns on the branches. His eyes widened, Oleg knew those bushes all to well. He quickly signaled the Spetsnaz conscripts to quickly back up and they got a comfortable distance away from the bushes.

They were called, "Charlie Thorns," these bushes protect themselves with razor sharp leaves and needle like thorns, all rigged with its poisonous sap which can kill most vertebrates. Blue and green smurfs were perfectly immune to the poison, but red smurfs are very sensitive to it. All it takes is one scratch, and any red smurf will experience tremendous cramps as their muscles lock up from the poison, hence the name Charlie Thorns. It was enough to get a selfish red smurf screaming in pain, it would take hours for death to arrive if they even managed to get out to safety. If the red smurf got the sap on the skin, then they'll develop a horrible rash much like poison ivy. Thankfully Oleg spot it in time. If he goes down, then the entire mission would be aborted and a funeral will have to be planned.

He turned towards his red smurfs and whispered, "Follow me, we'll have to find a way around the Charlie Thorns."

"Charlie Thorns?" whispered one of the conscripts, "Do they know our weakness?"

"I don't think so, this may be the only bushel here as far as I can tell."

The red smurfs managed to walk around the bushes and found a way past them. Oleg squinted his eyes and observed the windows of several mushroom buildings, the windows were entirely black, it was safe to assume that all of the smurfs were now asleep, "Let's do a little bit of recon before we get started," he whispered, "If Sergei missed anything important, than they could jeopardize the mission. Spread out comrades."

The Spetsnaz team began to divide up a little and examined every part of the village in visible to them. Oleg saw that the mushroom house covered in presents and a medieval like building somewhere near the center, near the lake that sits at the edge of the Smurf Village was a mushroom house with a tall iron chimney, a radio mast next to it, and an outdoor LED lamp glowing brightly above the front door. According to Sergei's notes, that mushroom house could be the Wunderwaffe's home. He saw the lights were on inside, so the rumor that the Wunderwaffe was nocturnal could be true after all.

Oleg felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around and saw one of his conscripts standing behind him. He had to agree that the Spetsnaz soldier looked kinda weird through the night-vision glasses and nearly mistaken him as a different colored smurf, "We found 2 of the 3 animals mentioned by Sergei," he whispered, "When is the time to take them out?"

"Now," whispered Oleg, "Where are they?"

"The crane is near that medieval building, and the dog is somewhere near the tree-stump house that contained the village smurflings."

"Wunderwaffe twins could be there, we'll drag out some blue smurfs along with them once we wrap up booby trapping the place."

"Affirmative comrade."

Oleg and the Spetsnaz conscript tiptoed over to where the white crane was at, when it came into view Oleg stopped and kept his distance from it. It was sleeping in an elevated nest, it looked like it was built by smurf hands. Wood, they used wood to build their infrastructure, did they know that wood burns? No matter, the white crane was in plain view and it was sleeping soundly. To make sure it would remain asleep, Oleg held up his assault rifle and aimed at the bird. Lining up the iron sights carefully, he held his breath and pulled the trigger. The tranquilizer round struck the crane with a click sound that was barely audible, the bird flinched and raised its head slightly. Oleg watched as the tranquilizer kicked in as the bird tried to get out of the nest, it collapsed onto the ground in a soft thud without making any noise. The behavior was strange, Oleg was surprised how well that tranquilizer worked out.

"Now for the dog." he whispered.

"That way."

Again, the two red smurfs remain as silent as possible. There was no telling where the Wunderwaffe would be, he could be around the corner for all Oleg know. Any green smurf they encountered are potential combatants, even the green smurflings. He had seen a red smurf get killed by a throwing knife over 10 meters, and a rock at 20. To Oleg, green smurfs without guns are worse than those who do. Tough bastards. Well, they're in the Smurf Village, not the Green Smurf Colony. If they were in the colony, they would be dead by now. Oleg knew that as a fact, the only red smurf who got out of there alive was Sergei, his experience with the green smurfs was more passive and kind than his fellow comrades. He liked Sergei for being a diplomat, Cousin Adrian planned to use Sergei to be one when they either succeed or fail.

Success was important, failure was the precursor to success. If you keep trying, even a thousand times, you'll succeed. Oleg need only one chance, and this was it.

As he pushed through the Smurf Village to the other side, Oleg and his partner located the tree-stump house. The windows were dark and dead, so the Smurflings should be asleep. Oleg looked around and saw the dog sleeping right beside the tree-stump house, he raised his SK-47 and took careful aim before pulling the trigger. The dog took a direct hit in the neck, like the crane it awoke upon impact. Oblivious to the red smurfs, it went on to scratch off the tranquilizer dart. Once the dog got it off, it went limp and collapsed, letting off a small whine that was barely noticeable.

"Target down," whispered Oleg, "Now the final creature."

"We don't know where it is comrade."

"Well find it, we'll regroup with the rest of the squad to see what they had found."

As the red smurfs made their way back to the village center, they heard someone yawn. Oleg and the conscript crouched down upon hearing it, "It sounded like it came from one of the houses." whispered the conscript.

Down the dirt road, they saw another Spetsnaz soldier crouched down behind a wooden barrel next to a mushroom house. He simply held up his hand to say hi and Oleg held his back, the sound of a door opening made him grab his rifle tightly as he ushered the conscript to get out of the road. The soldier down the road retreated to the back of the mushroom house and disappeared from sight, "What a night," said a voice, "So smurfy out here."

Oleg could barely see the blue smurf stepping out into the open through his night-vision goggles, but he managed to see that the smurf was wearing black round-framed glasses. Clearly this nerd had no sense of security, he didn't even looked around to see if anyone was there, all he did was looked up at the night sky and gaze at all that blackness. Impressed, though dumbstruck. Oleg was convinced that the mission was going to be more easier than he thought. Taking his time wisely, he raised his rifle at the smurf's neck and fired.

The dart struck the blue smurf in the neck, he let out a small yelp before his knees buckled and collapsed onto the ground. Oleg rushed around the corner and checked at the blue smurf, he was knocked out cold. Oleg got out two disposable handcuffs and bounded the blue smurf's wrists together, then he bounded the ankles next, "Take the blue smurf back to Izotov," whispered Oleg, "Take a comrade with you, don't ever go out alone in this forest. Once you get there, send two more guys back and remain there for further orders."

"As you command sir."

The Spetsnaz conscript picked up the blue smurf and hoist him over his shoulders, then headed back to the drop zone. As Oleg watched him walk off, he reminded himself that the non-lethal explosives must be placed. This pink fur-ball would have to wait, he'll look for the creature once he was all done. He shifted his night-vision goggles back onto his forehead and blinked a couple times, his natural night-vision seemed to be working now. He took off his backpack and pulled out several of the non-lethal explosives, then set off to place them in strategic areas.

Oleg found the task of placing the traps fairly difficult, as a lot of mushroom houses had clean and empty yards. Though there were some barrels and crates that can provide some cover for the traps, a blue smurf would still be smart enough to notice anything out of place. So to increase the chance of any blue smurfs triggering one of these traps, Oleg placed the claymores right in front of the doors of their homes. The claymores were simple cans packed with an explosive charge surrounded with rubber balls, beeswax seals the balls in place and stabilize them upon detonation. They are triggered by two small motion sensors perched at the top of the claymore, when detonated, the rubber balls are launched 50 centimeters in a 90 degree field, taking out anyone in that range. Oleg had wired the claymores each with a flash-bang, not only will a blue smurf get a face full of rubber, their eyes and ears will suffer as well.

As cold as it was tonight, Oleg hoped that the temperature won't cause the wax to harden and become brittle. If that happens, then the claymore will give off a plop rather than a bang. He wasn't too worried about the flash-bangs, Oleg was sure that their components wouldn't fail since they're so well insulated. If it were to snow, the invasion would still have to continue because the red smurfs won't get a 2nd chance at it.

Oleg wanted to see what was in that human-like building. So he approached it and peaked through its windows. He saw what looked like red marbles stuffed into several barrels, crates, and sacks. Wanting to know more, he opened the door and stepped on through. Underneath the moonlight, Oleg realized the building was a food store. The place was packed with backs of flower, corn, and not red marbles but berries from floor to ceiling. Oleg picked up one of the berries and examined it, looks fresh and ripe, so he popped it into his mouth to try it. A sour flavor attacked his taste buds, it was so sour that Oleg spat it out, _Disgusting_, he thought. He wondered how these blue smurfs managed to handle the taste of these berries, he didn't wanna know, he had a job to do. Since this was the food store, then blowing it up would cause the blue smurfs to go hungry for the winter.

Oleg thought about it some more for a moment. Yeah, it would be a good idea to wipe out the enemy's food reserve. That way, in theory, the Smurf Village would become more dependent on the Green Smurf Colony for resources and more vulnerable to whatever predator that hunts them. Oleg just so happened to have some thermite on him, he was going to use it to prime some claymores that appeared to be faulty, so why not use it? The mixture of iron oxide and magnesium dust made it so destructive that it can burn at around 2204 degrees Celsius, all thanks to its own reserve of oxygen stored in the rust.

Oleg pulled out the canister and sprinkled the stuff all over the food reserve in a fine layer, not much thermite is required for its signature fireball display. The food store would need to be destroyed during the invasion, so Oleg had to improvise a way to activate it. He thought about the radio-activated fuses he brought with him from Fort Romanov and got those out, he took a couple of flash-bangs and a claymore and rigged them all up into a crude yet effective ignition source. He covered it with a fine layer of thermite before burying it in the center of the food store. Oleg had tuned the fuses to go off at what he believes were green smurf radio frequencies, so if they try to use their comms, his crappy IED would explode, taking the food reserve along with it in a fiery mushroom cloud.

The look on the blue smurfs' faces would be priceless, too bad Oleg won't stick around to watch the invasion as it happen. The thought alone kept him motivated, as if it was part of the requirements for being a red smurf. After he finished admiring his work, he went back outside to perform his last objective for the mission. He went around the Smurf Village and gathered up his Spetsnaz crew who were wrapping up booby trapping the place, once he acquired all 10 soldiers, including the two new ones sent back from the drop zone, they huddled around in a tight circle, "You're now authorized to kidnap 25 blue skins, once you get a hold of a blue smurf you take him straight back to the drop zone then come back. Remember, not one single smurf must be harmed. I repeat, all blue smurfs are to remain unharmed upon capture. If any blue smurf was injured or killed, heads will roll. Understand?"

"Da." whispered the team.

"We'll start with the blue smurfs closest to the Wunderwaffe, General Dragovich does not want to get the invading force near his house. As for me, I'll handle taking out the Wunderwaffe's comms and capture the Papa Smurf myself. Now spread out comrades, and don't waste anymore time."

As the red smurfs spread out, Oleg quietly heads over to the Wunderwaffe's house. He can't help but stare at the tall smokestack that looms over him. From afar it was inspiring, but up close it was imitating. Since Sergei didn't record where the cable placements would be, Oleg would have to do it the hard way and dig around the edge of the eastern side of the house. He knew it had to be on the east side since the Green Smurf Colony was in that direction. Even with the search area was shortened, Oleg had no idea how deep the cable was buried or how thick it was. All Oleg knew was that was only just one cable, nothing more.

Oleg noticed the lights were now turned off, at first he thought they were asleep. But when he neared the house, he heard a smurfette giggle inside along with some rustling coming from within the building, "Gotta get it in there," Oleg heard a muffled voice say, "It's all the way in!"

_Ugh_, Oleg thought, _These green smurfs are just as immature as my comrades._

The fact that the Wunderwaffe's bedroom was right next to the search area didn't help Oleg at all, and hearing what he was doing with his girlfriend in there made it worse. Oleg tried to ignore it, he took out his knife and dropped to his knees and began poking around in the mud with it. He skimmed the side of the building, hoping for the knife to hit something. Five minutes went by, still he found nothing. He felt his pores oozing out sweat as he stressed to find the cable, the Wunderwaffe's activities were already starting to stick into his mind like glue. Anymore longer and Oleg would start pounding his head into the ground from insanity, just as he was about to loose it the activity slowed and stopped. And at that moment, his knife struck something.

"Chernov," he heard a muffled voice say inside, "I love you."

"I love you too Rachael." said the Wunderwaffe.

The thought of kidnapping the kids came into mind again, _That can wait, be patient Oleg._

As Oleg began digging where his knife located something, the couple inside the house began to chat, "Chernov," said Rachael, "Can you tell me why you went to bed early this morning?"

"I need a break Rachael, the world can function without me for one day."

"Oh I know, but you seemed a bit tired. Did anything interesting happened at the Colony?"

"Yeah, Sally is in love."

"With who?"

"Handy."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"The two would make a perfect match, Sally is an engineer like Handy. I'm sure of it."

Oleg dug up more dirt and found what he was looking for, a thick cable that was no more than 18 mm long. His heart sank at seeing it, but he tried not to become deterred from the facts. He pulled out his bolt cutters and went straight away peeling off the cable's rubber and chewing out the copper wire itself, "Sally is nervous," said the Wunderwaffe, "Nervous as hell, she tried to hide it but I can see it."

"How can you tell?"

"I saw it in you when we both first met, your heart always fluctuate every time I held your hand on those first few weeks of our relationship."

"You always had a good perception."

"And you always had a good stomach too."

Rachael giggled, "Stop tickling me Chernov."

"Oh, but it's so soft."

Rachael burst out laughing, for some reason it nearly made Oleg laugh as well. With one final snip, he managed to fully cut the cable completely. He panted as he took off his night-vision goggles off of his forehead, his uniform was making him all sweaty. Thinking the green smurf couple was about to do business again, he quickly filled in the hole, got up, and quietly walked away awhile keeping his cool. Once he got a comfortable distance away from the house, Oleg took a deep breath and exhaled, _Now for the head of the snake._

Sergei had noted what mushroom house Papa Smurf lived in, but he wasn't so sure if it was the correct house. Oleg decided to go there anyway since the lead was better than nothing. As he walked down the dirt road, he saw Spetsnaz conscripts each carrying off the blue smurfs. The blue smurfs were knocked out and bonded with cuffs on their hands and feet, many of whom were still wearing their nightgowns as most of them were plucked from bed. So far things were going according to plan, no disasters yet. Oleg approached the targeted mushroom house, then peaked through the windows to see what's inside. He saw smurf wearing red was snuggled nicely in his bed, _Gotta be him, _Oleg thought, _It had to be him._

He held his SK with one hand as he opened the front door, the distinct smell of oldness coming through the door and into Oleg's nose made it clear that this was indeed the leader he was looking for. He quietly toptoed inside as the village leader snored in bed. These blue smurfs definitely had no sense of security, so called Wunderwaffe protection. Its as if they had a sign that reads "Come kills us, we're defenseless!" posted on their lawns.

Oleg quietly approached the leader with his gun trained on him, once he was within arm's reach he aimed the SK at the old smurf's neck and fired. It impacted on where the corroded artery was with a click, the old smurf was awakened as a result. His hand went to where Oleg shot the dart at and pulled it out, seemed that Papa Smurf knew what just happened. Realized Oleg was on the verge of being compromised, Oleg used all of his strength and pinned down the old smurf with all his might. The village leader flailed his arms and legs, his screams were muffled by his pillow. Even though Oleg had little trouble keeping Papa Smurf pinned down, the old smurf still put up a vicious resistance. Its like trying to get a rebellious cat into the bathtub. It took a little longer than usual for the tranquilizer to kick in. Oleg felt the village leader loose strength and goes limp, he took his hands off of him but kept them hovering over Papa Smurf for a brief moment. After a 30 second wait, Papa Smurf didn't move at all.

Oleg checked Papa Smurf's pulse, he had one. He was also still breathing, which was relieving for Oleg, since he thought he killed the old smurf. Now all he had to do was handcuff the leader's wrists and ankles before dragging him back to the drop zone for transport. But wait a minute, he can't be captured in his pajamas. Oleg always respect his enemy, so he decided to dress Papa Smurf in his usual outfit before hauling him outta there. He knew what he usually wears, a pair of red pants and that smurf hat of his. Oleg found the dresser and opened one of the shelves, he found a pair of fresh pants and a red smurf hat inside. He grabbed them both and began to dress the village leader. He slipped the red pants up the old smurf's legs and pulled off the night gown and cap, once he placed the smurf hat on Papa Smurf's head he was ready to go.

He hoisted the unconscious village leader over his back and carried him out side, once out he saw his Spetsnaz team carrying off the Smurflings, including the Wunderwaffe twins. Over his right, he saw one of his soldiers carrying Grandpa Smurf. The conscript was trying to push the millenarian's long white beard out of the way, Oleg swore he saw random crap falling out of it, "Let's wrap this up guys," he whispered, "Then we'll head home."

"Da." whispered his conscripts.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	15. Act I: Chapter XV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act I: Chapter XV_

Chernov peacefully sleeps in his bed, his arms wrapped firmly around Rachael. A moment of sex and a little play helped him find the peace of mind he needed. Things were looking good, the GSC economy was booming and the Gargamel Threat was at an all-time low. Maybe going to bed early helped Chernov out after all. If anyone can restfully sleep all night, it would be him and Rachael. Kicking the nocturnal habit seemed to be helping him, the world became clearer and more serene. Though not all was as they seem.

The dream Chernov was having at the moment was vague. He was standing in an open savanna, covered with a fresh blanket of snow. The skies were gray and the trees at the horizon looked barren, there was nothing else in the savanna, only Chernov.

"Hello?" called out Chernov, "Is anyone there."

His own echo answered his call, nobody was there at first.

A moment past before someone called out to him, "Are you done yelling at the sky?"

"Who's there," asked Chernov, "Where are you?"

A flash of light temporary blinded Chernov, he held his hand in front of his eyes directly to the source. Once they adjust, he saw what appears to be a pulsing ball of light. It gave off a blue=white glow that felt warm or comforting, to Chernov it looked brighter than the sun, "The world as you view it will soon change Reznov," said the light, "A day when the Red Menace will come in and try to destroy you and everybody who stands by your side."

"Where am I?" asked Chernov, "Who are you?"

"Focus Reznov, that is not important right now!"

Chernov stiffened and nodded shyly.

"Your ability as a leader will be tested to a great extent, as the threat you face will be much greater than those before it. The threat will center around the, pure-bloods, as you call them."

A marriage-like haze developed over the edge of the savanna, it soon vanished and revealed a replica of the Smurf Village, "The war will be known as the Primary War, obviously named after the red, blue, and green smurfs who fought it. The goal of the war will be centered around the blue smurfs, which will also center around you."

"What do you mean?" asked Chernov.

"The Red Menace is tired of numerous failures of attacking the Green Smurf Colony, so it has turned its guns towards the Smurf Village for easy pray. The red smurfs cannot be reasoned with, they crave your death. Once you die, the society you run will crumble and your species will be wiped off the face of the earth."

To prove the light's point, the Smurf Village replica at the horizon exploded. A fiery mushroom loud erected towards the heavens and loomed over Chernov like a giant. Seeing the destruction made Chernov sick to his stomach, he felt nauseous for a moment but managed to retain his dignity, "What am I suppose to do?" he asked.

"Defeat the red smurfs by assassinating the leader," said the light, "Once you hear his name, it will be burned into your mind throughout the entire war. It may take weeks or even months, you and the red smurf general will be at each others' throats until one will fall. The blue and green smurfs will look up to you, they'll understand when you fail to provide, even you have your limits. I must go now, I will contact you again in the future once the war reaches its peak.

Chernov watched the light shoot upwards towards the edge of the atmosphere in impossible speeds, it soon became a near distant star before it twinkled, then vanished from sight. As quickly as the dream happened, everything went pitch black once again. Chernov found himself back into bed, and realized it was only a dream, yet it felt real enough to make him sick. He took a moment to regain his bearings, as his mind was still bogged down from sleep. Beside him was Rachael, tucked underneath the covers as his arms still wrapped around her. She let out a light snore before shifting into a new position, "I'll like thirds please." she muttered.

He lets go of Rachael and stared up at the ceiling, in the darkness of his bedroom Chernov thought of the dream and the warning that came with it, The Red Menace, the red smurf general, the Smurf Village caught between the middle of authoritarian and freedom. He will never forget that dream, he mustn't. Chernov yawned and shuts his eyes, and slowly went back inside his head for the rest of the night.

**. . .**

General Dragovich watched on his balcony as the last of his fleet of twinblades he had sent out for tonight's small yet vial mission landed in the center of Fort Romanov below, he can't help but smile as he watched his Spetsnaz unload the precious blue skins from the cargo holds, including the leader himself and Chernov's children. The Spetsnaz conscripts carried off the unconscious humanoids towards the prison cells made just for them, the so-called Papa Smurf will get his own private cell where he would be interrogated, and the added bonus Wunderwaffe twins will be confined to their own cell well away from their blue buddies. When the twinblades returned to the fort's airport, he saw Sergeant Oleg Dragovich and Colonel Izotov approaching the VIP bunker. _To the War Room_. Dragovich thought.

He headed back inside and made his way to the War Room, there he sat inside and waited for his comrades to arrive. The door opened and the two soldiers came walking through, no formal introductions were necessary as they were close loved ones, "So how did it go?" asked the general.

"It went well," said Sergeant Dragovich, "The Smurf Village is now prepped for invasion."

"I honestly thought he wouldn't succeed," said Izotov, "I was glad to oversee this risky operation."

"And your efforts paid off." said General Dragovich.

Izotov gave his superior a tired look, "I did almost nothing, I just sat there and watch the whole mission as it happened."

"I would like to have a word with my cousin, you're dismissed Comrade Izotov."

"Da Comrade General."

Izotov walked out of the War Room without saying another word, leaving the two Dragovichs all on their own, "You need me Comrade Cousin?"

"_Nyet_, I just want to express my thanks for your accomplishment."

"Sure, and thank me for kidnapping children as well."

"They will not be harmed, I just need-"

"Needed what? My men brought them in, I will not claim responsibility for their actions because I don't approve. Do you realize you're tampering with the Wunderwaffe's personal life? You get under his skin, he'll tear yours right off your muscles."

"He had done it to so many of my finest red smurfs, should I be surprised?"

"You should be worried."

"Be worried that... What? He comes into Fort Romanov with an army and blows the place out of existence. He isn't capable for such destruction, he just runs off of the placebo that he is the greatest creation made by mankind. I will laugh when he falls, I'm sure he would."

The look on his cousin's face told Dragovich he was still disturbed, "Oleg, you're running off of doubt. The Wunderwaffe's weaknesses will split open like a watermelon, I can assure you that he would be overwhelmed without question."

Oleg pulled some fuzz out of his hair and sighed, "Alright," he said, "As a subordinate, I will understand that. But as a member of your family, I'm worried that the Red Smurf Army had control over you than you to them."

"Maybe one day, you'll be general Oleg."

"I already lead the Red Smurf Spetsnaz, they're the finest red smurfs ever to walk under your command. I request permission for dismissal cousin."

"Permission granted."

"Thanks, wake me up in the morning once the battle is over."

"Will do cousin."

Oleg turned and left the room, once the door shuts behind him General Dragovich looked over the plans of the upcoming Battle Of The Smurf Village. He felt like god almost. His troops had modified the battlefield to his favor as if he owned it, he had captured the leader and the twins of the Wunderwaffe, along with a quarter of the Smurf Village. Even with all of these factors on his side, Dragovich still needed a quick and easy force to send in. Spetsnaz had done their job, now the conventional army will take over – and he will lead it personally.

His only thought now was his cousin, he was showing resentment, similar to Sergei. Dragovich took it as a good sign, he wanted more red smurfs with empathy around her in an effort to curb the cruel and heartless reputation of the race. This war he was going to start will help him in that goal, he'll make sure the red smurfs will soften to a new lifestyle once they acquire the much needed technology from the green smurfs, by all means necessary.

**. . .**

The sun slowly rose above the horizon, first it was only the tip, moments later it was a quarter. There was enough light to wake some creatures up in the Smurf Village. Puppy just so happened to be one of them.

His eyes slowly open, for some reason he felt groggy. This wasn't normal, he never gets these feelings. It felt like he was having a hangover after having a few too many at a party. He struggled to get onto his feet, like wet noodles they buckled and crashed under his own weight. Puppy began to whine, hoping to call out any smurf who hears him to his aid. No one responded to the dog's call. He began to think of the Smurflings in the clubhouse, the little ones who never got tired of playing with him and always grooming him. With little strength that remained, Puppy crawled to the front door of the clubhouse and scratched at it with his paw. He whined as he sniffed it, hoping for it to open and end his miserable beginning of the day.

The familiar smell of the Smurflings was there, as it always had been. But there was another smell, a different one. Puppy sniffed again as his brain tried in vain to process the new information. Yes, he remembered it now. The smell reeked with body odor and alcohol, the conventional odor of a green smurf. Puppy can tell it wasn't green smurf however, the smell of alcohol was different than the ones he remembered smelling. It was brewed brewed differently, no way was this made by green smurf minds. His time in the Green Smurf Colony was short, but nonetheless he memorized the smells of them all. There was only once source this smell would had come from, the thought of it made Puppy growled. Looks like the Smurf Village had intruders snooping about.

With renewed strength, he let out a bark, then shot into the Smurf Village to alert the smurfs. As he ran near a mushroom house, the water barrel next to it exploded with blinding light and searing pain. The dog's ears rang from the concussion as small beads pelt his face, shoulders, and chest. It felt like hot coals, and it hurt like hot coals. Once Puppy's vision and hearing returned, the multiple sores all over his body became apparent. He had no idea what had happened, nor he was sure why. All he knew was that he stumbled into a trap, any doubt that the village had unwelcome visitors was now out the window. The dog took a deep breath and began to bark loudly, trying to alert the smurfs if the loud bang hadn't alerted them already.

After just a few seconds of barking, Puppy stopped and perked his ears. He heard something, but what was it? Listening closer in the stillness of the Smurf Village, he was able to here what sounded like a fan buffeting the air. Was it a flying machine that the green smurfs used? No, their flying machines are quieter. This sound was far louder and more powerful. Puppy soon connected the sound and the smell together, and memories of the past returned to him. He knew who the intruder was.

Even though he had plenty of warning, Puppy was still surprised to see the flying machine making all the noise appear out of the tops of the trees. He saw the pilot, saw his face that was partically covered by a helmet and some thick sunglasses: It was a red smurf, and his face was showing determination like a programed robot. He was looking directly at Puppy, staring down at him waiting for him to either run away or pass out. It aimed its guns at Puppy, blind animal terror pierced the dog's brain as a 3 mm bullet followed suit.

**. . .**

The sound of machine gun fire was enough to wake Chernov up from his slumber, his eyes shot open immediately and he quickly sat up from bed. The distinct sound of a twinblade made its way through the walls and into Chernov's ears, the call for battle can never be greater. He turned towards Rachael and shook her hard until she woke up, "Get up, we're under attack!"

Rachael flailed her arms and legs, accidentally knocked herself onto the floor wrapped up in the blanket. As she tried to fight her way out of the blanket, Chernov threw on his pants and jacket before tossing Rachael her green overalls. Chernov went intot he main room and pulled up the cushions of the couch, revealing a wooden platform, he pulled up the platform and exposed the firearms underneath. 3 RS-100s, 5 SIRs w/ several rifle, shotgun, and sniper barrels, and 10 0.7 mm pistols lay inside. He pulled out two SIRs and a couple of sniper barrel mods, he clicks the barrels to the stocks and attached a silencer on each of them. As Rachael came into the room, she tossed Chernov his smurf hat as she puts on hers.

"Please telling me I'm not hearing a twinblade." said Rachael.

"No machine produce a noise like it Rachael," said Chernov, "I hope its not true though."

Chernov slapped his hat on and he took a quick peak out the window. He saw the twinblade in question hovering in mid-air as it unloaded red smurfs from its cargo hold, they fast-roped down and landed on Smurf Village soil. They pulled out their SK-47s and ran towards the village center, as the twinblade leaves, more of them came into the scene. Chernov couldn't believe his eyes, the red smurfs had attacked before but that was a mere few, the entire Red Smurf Army was literally on the Smurf Village's doorstep, "I'm calling reinforcements," said Chernov, "Sic the air force on the red smurfs."

"Red smurfs!" cried Rachael.

"Yes, red smurfs. Who else with an army that would be attacking?"

"Humans?"

"Around our size?"

"Oh..."

He shut the blinds and dashed towards his radio, as he pressed the talk button an explosion from outside vibrated the ground heavily, nearly knocking him to the ground, "Command Center come in," he called, "Command center, this is Wunderwaffe. Come in, over!"

No response. Not only no response, there wasn't any static. Not good.

"Damn it!" Chernov slammed the mic back onto the counter, "Radio's dead, we're all on our own."

"The kids!" cried Rachael.

"Rachael, forget about the kids for just a moment, they can handle themselves. Right now, we gotta defend the Smurf Village," Chernov hands Rachael a SIR sniper mod, "Take the sniper rifle and climb up a tree, I hope your sniping skills aren't so rusty."

"I haven't forgotten a thing."

"Let's get ready, there's not much to loose."

Chernov and Rachael grabbed as much ammo as they can carry, since they had a limited supply they must make every shot count. Before they left, Chernov hit the button on the wall that activated the siren. If this was a covert operation, its best to make as much noise as possible so anyone nearby will know of the danger. Once that was done, they headed back to the bedroom and opened the window. Chernov popped the security bars off by pulling a lever, he climbed out first, then helped Rachael squeeze through. Once outside, they began to discuss a defense strategy, "In order to increase our tactical advantage, we must put the Smurf Village between us. Once settled in, we began sniping the red smurfs' ushankas off. You take this side Rachael as I take the other, please do me a favor and try not to get yourself killed."

He could tell the fear in Rachael's eyes, Chernov made no attempt to hide his own, "What do they want?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we're about to find out."

The two green smurfs kissed each other before getting into position, Chernov boldly ran across the Smurf Village without being spotted. Once on the other side, he made his way through the woods and looked for a tree that he could climb. After looking around, he found a thick oak tree that seemed to be suitable for sniping. He got onto the base of the trunk and climbed up its bark, after climbing a few meters he made it on a stub of what used to be the base of a thick branch. With the entire Smurf Village in view, Chernov realized what the red smurfs were actually here for.

A couple of twinblades had landed at the village center, he could see what appeared to be red smurfs shoving the local smurfs into the cargo bays of the helos. They were taking smurfs rounding them all up and incarcerating them. The red smurfs were here for their blue counterparts, taking them away to some unknown location. Chernov didn't have the time to let it all sink in, he set up his sniper rifle and check to see if Rachael was in position. There she was, also in a high tree like him. Even though it was winter and the trees weren't green, Rachael was hard to spot in the woods. She waved her hand towards Chernov and he waved back, he gave her the thumbs up that signaled the go-ahead.

Chernov had a reputation of heavily using a sniper rifle as well as being the best marksman in Europe, no smurf or humanoid can shoot as far as him. He can shoot a target up to 3 kilometers away, the green smurf semi-automatic sniper rifles were designed for such ranges yet green smurfs had trouble shooting 650 meters. It was hard not to think of Chernov without his marksman experience.

When Chernov and Rachael gathered up ammo back at their house, they picked out the hollow points. Hollow points are bullets with a flat nose and a pocket of air inside, when penetrating a fleshy target it expands and disintegrates, causing severe damage to the tissue inside. The entry wound of a hollow point may be nothing, but the exit wound look like a bloody shotgun blast. Getting shot with one of these in the torso or brain is certain death, though hollow points can safely be deflected by armor or a solid surface. Chernov doesn't normally use hollow points due to their poor accuracy, he only use them when he's up close and personal with the enemy. Now is that day, and he must make good use of the bullets as there isn't much of them in stock.

_Every shot must count. _Chernov told himself.

He aimed down range in the Smurf Village and picked out his first target, a red smurf pushing Painter Smurf into one of the helos, followed by several more of his brothers. Chernov took careful range at the red smurf's temple, tuned his scope to the estimated distance, adjust for wind turbulence, and fired. The suppressor took care of muffling most of the gunshot, the rest of the sound was drowned out by the twinblade helos. The red smurf's head exploded as it whipped backwards from the force of the bullet, it coated the hull of the twinblade with brain matter and blood as he dropped to the ground.

The red smurf's comrades reacted immediately by hastening their operation, Chernov aimed his sniper rifle at his 2nd red smurf who was going through the fight or flight response and fired. The bullet struck the red smurf hard in the stomach, he clutched the gunshot wound for a brief second before toppling over like a stiff board. Chernov's third target saw the demise of his comrade and shoved the last blue smurf in, he reached out towards the door in an effort to close it but Chernov put a bullet in his collarbone before he could perform the simple task. As the third red smurf falls, the blue smurfs tried to get off but the cargo doors suddenly shut on them. _Automatic doors. _Chernov thought.

He watched as the helo took to the air, there was no way Chernov could bring down the twinblade without injuring the blue smurfs inside. He lets them go and moved onto more red smurf targets. He found his 4th target, who was just about to kick down a door of a mushroom house. Chernov shot him in the back of the neck, spraying the front door with blood as the red smurf collapsed. The 5th red smurf wasn't that far away, this one tried to use one of the blue smurfs a smurf shield to protect himself. Chernov managed to line up his sights precisely and fired, the bullet shot passed the blue smurf's head and penetrated the red smurf's. As the red smurf was knocked backwards, the blue smurf ran off, clutching his left ear with a hand. Looks like Chernov blew out his neighbor's ear drum, _Oops, sorry._

Chernov focused on his 6th target, a red smurf who looked like he was holding up a machine pistol in one hand and a bayonet in the other. He was waving the gun in the air at his comrades, he looked like he was yelling at them. Chernov took careful aim at the red smurf's collarbone and fired. Instead of hitting the collarbone, he struck the red smurf's shoulder, actually traumatically amputating his arm. The limb fell to the ground as the red smurf dropped with it, the red smurf was still alive but Chernov didn't bother finishing him off. The rate of blood gushing out of the stump would kill him later. One of the red smurfs tried to rescue his down comrade, just as he was dragging him to safety he became Chernov's 7th target. He took the bullet to the heart and jerked backwards, landing onto the around with his arms and legs spread out.

The three remaining red smurfs ran off, just before they disappeared out of sight however all of their heads exploded one by one in little more than a second. They dropped to the ground without putting up a struggle, _That's my Rachael_. Looks like Rachael's sniping skills was in order.

Chernov continued taking pot-shots at the red smurfs with little difficulty, most of his shots were head shots, the rest were either chest and stomach shots. Rachael was doing just as well as he was, still they weren't discovered. More twinblades came into the seen and unloaded red smurfs, which gave more targets for Chernov to kill. For some reason, they seemed to be coming in waves. He already took out a dozen red smurfs and still they don't know where he's at, incredible. Chernov thought he would get through the battle without a scratch, though he wasn't sure what to do next. They were kidnapping his friends, so why not take out their mode of transports?

A twinblade was coming into the seen as Chernov took careful aim at the helo's rotors, he only allowed him one shot and no more, he can't waste the bullets. He held his breath and fired, striking the twinblade one of its rotor's axles. A ball of fire erupted from the rotor and the twinblade began to spin out of control, it spun in a few circles a couple times before sharply diving into the trees. A loud boom followed by a plume of black smoke followed, signaling that the helo had crashed.

_That's one for the-_

Chernov's tongue soured as he saw a red smurf aimed an RPG-S at him, he aimed back with his sniper rifle and fired, striking the red smurf in the lung. The red smurf managed to fire his RPG before succumbing to his wounds. As the rocket streamed towards him, Chernov dropped his rifle and made a mad dash for cover. The adrenaline slowed the world down as the rocket rushed past him and struck the tree behind him, the blast struck Chernov in his back and knocked him off the branch. He dropped 5 meters and landed face down on the ground, Chernov hit his head and lost consciousness soon after.

**. . .**

Afanasi Kamarov saw his comrade fall as the sniper up in the tree goes down, he rushed over to his fallen comrade to check if he's still alive – he wasn't. Private Kamarov realized he wasn't, no matter, Dragovich wants the smurfs rounded up regardless of the cost. The chaos that had unfolded after seeing so many of the blue skins come running out of their houses and into their iron fists was amazing, he wished the general was here to see it.

Kamarov continued to check the crummy mushroom buildings for more blue skins, so far there weren't any more of them. Looks like his fellow red smurfs cleaned out all of them, its now time to return back home or he would get left behind. Curious on who was shooting all of his comrades, Kamarov went to where the enemy sniper was stationed. He was shocked to find the body of the Wunderwaffe, lying faced down on the ground. There was some blood on his hand and jacket, he looked really beaten up. _He's dead, _he thought, _He's really dead._

The red smurf saw some of the twinblades about to leave. Guess it was time to go. Just as he heads back towards his comrades, he noticed white powder slowly drifting towards the ground. He held up his head and let the small particles land on his palm, they felt cold. Kamarov looked up and saw it was starting to snow, winter must had started, best head back to Fort Romanov or all the vodka would be gone.

He jogged back towards the nearest twinblade and rushed up to the open door, a fellow comrade helped him aboard as he took his seat, "Where did you run off Comrade Kamarov?" asked the red smurf.

"The Wunderwaffe was shooting at us," said Kamarov, "He's dead now."

"The green smurf leader is killed! Dragovich would love to here this wonderful news, glory to the Motherland!"

"And vodka."

As the twinblade took off, it began to snow heavily outside. Kamarov watched the last few twinblades leave the Smurf Village, carrying with it were blue skins they were after. Thankfully Kamarov was in a twinblade that only contained red smurf conscripts, he didn't wanna be near those half-naked creatures. Whatever Dragovich had in planned, he might persuade the Green Smurf Colony into submission. He didn't care, all he wanted was new booze and guns. If this was Dragovich's way of getting those two things, then so be it. Right now, he was glad he wasn't caught in the middle of that snow storm.

"Okay comrades," said the pilot on the intercom, "Sit tight, the trip back to Fort Romanov would take a few minutes. Just relax and enjoy the view of what might soon be ours."

_Ours, _Kamarov thought, _What is really ours anyway?_

**END OF ACT I**


	16. Act II: Chapter XVI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XVI_

A headache stabbed at Chernov's brain as he regained consciousness. He felt groggy, the RPG had did him in. He moaned as he got onto his shins, when he fully came to his senses he realized that it was snowing heavily. He sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly happened. He looked up and saw what's left of his sniping position, the tree was snapped horizontally in the middle. Its top lay on its side away from the village. It looked quite nasty. It was hard to believe that only a few moments ago, Chernov was sitting there.

Something felt wet in his right hand, he looked down and saw a stump of where his index finger was bleeding badly. It didn't hurt, which surprised Chernov. At first he wanna try to look for his lost digit, but accepted the fact that it was already long gone. Since Chernov was ambidextrous, he will make do with the stump, "Chernov!" cried a voice.

_Rachael?_ Chernov thought.

Chernov staggered back onto his feet, his legs felt stiff, he could barely move them. The cold was sapping the energy right out of his body as his muscles try to function. He looked out into the white haze and saw nothing, the signs of war had been buried beneath the thick blanket of snow. Among the millions of snowflakes trailing down from the heavens, he managed to see a green smurfette with messy blond hair come running for him. A part of Chernov almost wanted to reach out for a weapon to defend himself with, but he told himself to stay focused. Certainly it was Rachael coming to his aid.

"Chernov!" she cried as approach him. She gasped when she saw the wound.

"Yeah?" he said nonchalantly.

"I... I saw you go down. I didn't know what to do so I ran and hide, I tried to look for the kids but they were gone. Chernov, everybody is gone!"

"No sh*t, this place is deserted as far as I can tell. Oh what the hell, we failed, I knew it was a lost cause."

"At least we tried, we took out as many of them as humanly possible."

"We'll count the bodies later, right now we need to figure out our next move. Let's head back inside the house and rest, I could barely think in this weather."

Rachael offered Chernov her shoulder and he took it. As the green smurfs made their way through the snow, Chernov struggled to move his legs. Each step was a burden, Rachael managed to keep him up but he was slowing her down a lot. After 5 minutes, they reached their home and got inside. The two green smurfs made their way inside as Rachael kicked the door shut, she then put the cushions back onto the couch so Chernov would sit on it before she go looking for the First Aid Kit. She quickly returned and sat it on the couch, after opening it up she grabbed the gauze and bandaged Chernov's hand. She was a pro at it, Chernov can tell. He didn't know what he would do if Rachael was gone along with the smurfs.

That was when reality sunk in.

"We need to leave," he said as Rachael finished wrapping up Chernov's wound, "We need to go to the Colony."

"That's 10 kilos," said Rachael, "I saw the red smurfs disable the smurfvee, we can't walk that distance in the snow."

"Course we can, I walked through that forest when it was on fire. 30 centimeters of snow isn't going to inhibit our travel."

"Well we can't travel right now."

"I know, we'll rest first."

"You want me to start a fire in the furnace?"

"You do that."

Instead of being a fireplace, it was a blacksmith furnace. Chernov had built it in his first few days of living in the Smurf Village, he used it to refine the metals he managed to collect. Since it was being used almost 24/7, smoke was going everywhere. He built the 60 centimeter tall chimney just to keep the smoke out of eye-level, it soon became a blight on the Smurf Village scenery. If it ever bothered the smurfs, they kept their complaints to themselves. Rachael through in a few logs into the furnace and add some pure alcohol inside, then threw a lit match inside. It burst into flames and started a nice warm fire, finished Rachael returned to Chernov and sat beside him.

"I knew they saw me fall," said Chernov, "I knew they went and check if I was still kicking, they must had thought I was dead."

"I thought I was too." said Rachael.

"No, the world blacked out is all. Nothing more."

"Oh where did they took them? They even took Mama," Rachael referred to Smurfette, "I don't think I'm ever going to see her again."

Rachael rest her head on Chernov's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her, "I'm afraid I won't ever going to see them again. Protecting them was my true purpose in life, dad said it himself. If they're dead, then its all over, our existence would be finished."

His girlfriend began to start crying, "There there Rachael, we'll get them back. No smurf get's left behind."

She quieted down, but kept her tight hold on Chernov, "Promise me we would get them back."

"We will Rachael, but we can't do it alone. Our dad built our race for war, we'll mobilize the green smurfs and hunt down the Red Menace to its HQ. From there, we hold them at gunpoint and get our friends back."

The green smurfs rested on the couch for a few hours, eventually they had a nap. Chernov slept with an eye open as he held tightly around Rachael, the thought of being attacked when they're most vulnerable again was on his mind. It almost felt like the world was out to get him, heck, its always out to get him. It got him a few times in the past, and recently again with an RPG. Yet Chernov fought back and survived, where many would had perished. If the red smurfs want war, they're going to get it. Charles Darwin once said that neither the strongest nor intelligent species survive, only those who are responsive to change. Its no longer about keeping the blue smurfs from corruption no longer, he knew it was a lost cause.

After a needed nap, Chernov awoke and glanced at the digital clock on the wall. It read twelve hundred hours, it was time to go. He gave Rachael a nudge and her eyes shot open, she looked like she hadn't slept at all. "Now?" she asked.

"Now."

The two green smurfs sat up and stretched their legs, Chernov glanced out the window and saw that it was still snowing. He checked the temperature and saw that it was negative 10 degrees Celsius, even with mitochondria from hell Mother Nature will try her best to extract all the heat from their tiny bodies. Tiny, seemed offensive a little bit. With Chernov's lean frame, the cold will have no trouble eating away at his bones.

Chernov got up and went back to the bedroom, he dug around in the dresser and found a lime green ushanka w/ earmuffs inside. An embroidered patch of a green hammer & sickle within a green bordered white star was sowed in the center, it couldn't be any green smurf. He grabbed it and took off his camouflaged smurf hat and put that on, he grabbed an identical looking ushanka and returned to the main room where he tossed it to Rachael, "We're going to need to use the tunnel," said Chernov, "We won't last long in the cold."

"The tunnel?" said Rachael.

_Rachael and her cluelessness, typical. _"Its the sub-station that connects the Smurf Village and the Green Smurf Colony, don't you remember?"

It took a moment for Rachael to respond, "Oh, that sub-route."

The underground rail line that stretched 10 kilometers to and from each smurf civilization was built after the Humanoid War, since the entrance wasn't actually at the Smurf Village it was widely forgotten. It had been only used once, in the past two years. The conductor who owned it was a lazy slob who's day job was being a sanitation worker, there's a good chance that she wouldn't be at the tunnels. But since her home was a bunker built next to the entrance of the colony station, she might be alerted when they call the train. He doubt that it still worked.

Rachael pulled off her camouflaged smurf hat and puts on the ushanka, after tucking her hair to the back of her head she got up and stretched her arms, "Are we going to need some shoes?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Chernov, "I'll go get them."

The only smurfs who wear footwear would be the female smurfs, it was rare for a smurf to even wear shoes. In green smurf culture, when going out on a long walk it is necessary to wear boots. Chernov had a couple of pairs of steel-toed boots, they were black and were designed to take on abuse. It had been awhile since he last wore them, but when Chernov puts them on he found that they still fit. He grabbed the second pair and took them to Rachael wear she puts them on, her feet fits the boots quite nicely, "Just one more thing." said Chernov.

He opened a drawer and pulled out two 0.7 mm handguns and load them each with a 17 round magazine, he turned on the safety switches on the guns and tossed a firearm to Rachael, "Aim for the collarbone, right?"

"Yes Rachael, aim there."

Rachael pocketed the gun and stood up, "I'm going to need a jacket."

"Okay."

Chernov went back into the bedroom and went through the dresser, he pulled out a lime green jacket and took it to Rachael. She tried the jacket on, it managed to fit her nicely, "Now the rest of all this," said Chernov as he patted her belly, "Will take care of the extra insulation."

Rachael giggled, "Chernov." she complained.

"I love you Rachael, once this is all over we'll go out and have that vacation I promised."

Chernov pressed a button on the wall, immediately aluminum sheets came sliding down on every window of the house. Enclosing every bit of them. Once the room was only lit by the furnace, he shut its metal door and locked it, "The fire will burn itself out," he said, "Might serve as a distraction if the reds come back."

He grabbed his machete and its holster off of the counter and tuck it into his jacket, thinking it might come of use in the weather. Chernov then approached the front door and brace himself for cold freezing air to rush in, when he opened the door he discovered that it wasn't windy at all. The snow was already thick, maybe 6 mm tall. Chernov and Rachael made their way outside before shutting and locking the door behind them, "Before we leave," said Chernov, "I like to check out that twinblade I shot down."

"How did you shoot it down?" asked Rachael.

"Shot its propeller."

"No way."

"We can argue about this later Rachael."

The green smurfs made their way to the edge of the forest with Chernov leading the way, each step they took caused their feet to sink through the snow under their weight. They managed to make it into the woods as Chernov located the downed twinblade. He saw the heap of metal in the distance, the tops of the trees were destroyed from the crash. They had toppled over and now lay on their sides, signs of fires were everywhere, the snow did poorly to cover the remains, "How long had the red smurfs been gone?" asked Chernov.

"About 20 minutes."

"I don't see any footprints, not even animal footprints. Maybe the occupants hadn't made it."

"If they had made it, what are we going to do with them?"

"We either kill them or take them with us. The crash looks bad, maybe there might not be a burden to deal with."

Chernov approach the crashed helo and pushed aside a sheet of metal, it clattered against a part of the wreckage as it thumps to the ground. He peered inside and saw the bodies of red smurf conscripts still strapped to their seats, blood covered the electrical equipment as they sat motionless within the wreckage. Chernov reached in and unbuckled one of the conscripts before pulling him out, "What are you doing?" asked Rachael.

"I'm going to see if they had anything on them that gives us some vital information," said Chernov, "Maybe a reason why they were attacking."

Chernov laid the body on the ground and began to search the pockets, he pulled out several magazine clips to the SK-47, a 0.9 revolver, a flask, and some stick and flash grenades. Among all the items, Chernov found a small booklet in the breast pocket of the red smurf's trenchcoat. He opened it up and looked through it, it was a journal written entirely of Russian. Thinking that he was on to something, Chernov pocketed the booklet and pulled out more bodies. Rachael sat in the snow and watched him go through each and every corpse, all he found was the usual gear, nothing more.

He then moved on to the pilot and co-pilot, Chernov pulled out his machete and stuck it into the crack of the door. Using it as a lever, he muscled the side door open. It gave off a loud crack, followed by its echo. He puts the machete away and peered inside the cabin, the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot were strapped in. They almost appeared they were asleep. Chernov found it interesting that the power was still on, evidenced by the lights over the switch and button covered dashboard. He found a vanilla folder containing some documents tucked inside a crack between the seat and the cup holders, Chernov pulled it out and opened it. The documents were written in Russian, Chernov had no problem reading it, "These are orders for the twinblade," he said, "I guess our hunch for the red smurfs capturing our friends had been confirmed."

"This is bad." whined Rachael.

"I think its much worse than it seems, let's wrap this up and get a move on, my tail is already getting cold."

After doing a quick search on the pilot and co-pilot's bodies, he shuts the door and tossed the bodies back into the twinblade before getting onto his feet, "Okay," he said, "Let's go."

Chernov and Rachael left the crash site and moved on towards the entrance of the sub-station, he imagined it being occupied by spiders and mice. He wasn't sure if anyone ever bothered to use it at all, nor was he sure that the entrance was still sealed tightly. He almost felt like he was being watched, though he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. After a little walk, the green smurfs approached a pile of stones and walked through a small crack. Inside that crack was a small cavity, and in that cavity was a metal door partially rusted. He grabbed the knob and gave it a twist, the door didn't budge, so Chernov had to slam his shoulder into it.

The metal door popped open, the air rushing inside kicked up a lot of dust that had built up. Seeing that there was some light inside was a good sign, the sub-station was designed to have the lights on when it was functional. Even though the power was on, some light bulbs were flickering awhile others were not even on at all. The green smurfs walked inside and shut the metal door behind them, "Lets hope that the colony is still there when we arrive." said Chernov.

The green smurfs walked down some stairs before reaching the station itself. It was barren. Dust covered the benches and floors, the control panel that calls the train was showing neglect. Chernov looked down the tunnel that goes straight towards the colony, it felt like it goes on till infinity. Even out of the elements, the tunnel proved just as cold. He heard water dripped in the corner, a stagnant puddle was probably forming there. Chernov didn't wanna look, there probably was some feces there. He approached the control panel and blew the dust off of it, then pressed the call button.

"Password." said a female voice.

"_Noodgeval_." he replied. The word means "Emergency" in Dutch, or so he thinks it what it means.

"Chernov, is that you?"

"Just get here sis."

"Okay, on my way."

The speaker went silent, thinking that the conductor was no longer listening, "Those red smurfs left their dead where they lie," said Chernov, "They were that desperate for our friends yet they don't bring their fallen comrades back with them."

"I'm surprise we caused all that death."

Chernov looked at Rachael in the eyes and said, "We can accomplish things that the humans things thought impossible, all we need to do is believe in ourselves."

"I know that, but... I just don't know."

Under any ordinary circumstances, Chernov would've laughed. But this was serious, Rachael was still shocked at the incident. Maybe even scared half to death, he'll talk to her later when they reach safety and get her head straight. After waiting for several minutes, the underground train came into view as it lumbered in. As it approach the end of the rail, the train slowed and screeched to a halt. Once it scooted up to the concrete platfoorm, the door opened and the conductor stuck her head out. She wore a pear of green overalls and a camouflaged smurf hat, her frame was rather small. Like many green smurfs who are suppose to be adorable, she was anything but. Chernov can see that she looked like she hadn't washed in weeks. She showed her crooked smile as she looked at Chernov, she happened to be missing a tooth.

"It's good to see you bro." she said.

"I see you still work in the sanitation's department." he replied.

The conductor gasped when she saw Chernov's hand, "What happened to your hand?"

"Just shut up and drive, I'll tell you later along with your siblings."

"Okay then, right this way please."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	17. Act II: Chapter XVII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XVII_

Rick had tried to make contact with Chernov for two hours already, he still received no response. Maybe he wasn't home, probably off working with the blue smurfs. It was a bit suspicious though, normally he was available in the mornings. The evenings was where he works the hardest. Whatever he does to help the blue smurfs, he always takes seriously. He needed to contact Chernov in an effort to get his approval of Chad's recent policies about warfare, the way he beefed up the army and the way he heavily improved the technology was bond to be revised by Chernov. Being Lieutenant Commander, the job of informing the Supreme Commander was strict as it was vital in regards to personal safety of the colony.

He took notes on the information being sent to him by the computer, simple text messages displayed on its CRT monitor. These kinds of messages were sent by Chernov's secretaries in some green smurf villages, GSV 2 to 5 had a working computer, the rest were undergoing construction in having the necessary cables installed. Of course there were some cables already in place, but they were for private use. The new cables will be connected to GSV 1 through a filter before being sent to the Command Center in a single cable. With all these cables stretched all over the place, it was hard for the engineers to keep track of them all. Rick might need to inform Gizmo, the Secretary of Advanced Technology, to had the entire communications network redone in order to avoid an "electronic jam".

Rick transferred that thought to paper and pinned that note on the cork-board on the wall. Already it was gummed up with notes, some he needed to get done by tonight. He began to feel overworked for just a brief second but shook that thought out of his head, _No, _he told himself, _Just get on with it._

The HAM radio squealed and crackled, Rick assumed it was just more background noise. There had been a sudden spike just a couple of hours ago, nearly scared the crap out of Rick. He had an engineer to take a look at the radio, the engineer said it was perfectly fine. _The Post-Humanoid War radio is in the best condition in its age_, thought Rick, _Well, that's what the engineer said_. Still, Rick wasn't so sure. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen, a little moonshine might calm his nerves down.

A beep occurred on the computer, a new message had been received. Rick glanced at the monitor and read the newly arrived message:

TRANSPORTATION SUB-ROUTE: WUNDERWAFFE AND HIS MATE ARRIVED AT HOMEBASE, HEADING TO COMMAND CENTER NOW.

_Chernov? He's here?_

Odd, normally Chernov would arrived unannounced. Rachael, his mate of course, being here was extremely rare. He always liked Rachael, she was a good sister. Though she and Dashie don't get along too well, they managed to establish a "frienemy" relationship. And that was that. What Rick couldn't figure out though was who sent the message, Transportation Sub-route? Really? Did the conductor of that useless underground subway line to and from the Smurf Village sent it? Rick knew she had a portable computer in her crummy bunker, he didn't know she would one day put it to good use.

A knock came to his door. This wasn't normal, the reason was that the door was usually open. But since it was snowing outside, Rick had to keep the door close to prevent the snow and cold from getting in. The heat generated from the computers was enough to keep the place warm. Rick grumbled as he got up from his chair and approached the front door, before he opened it he thought of grabbing the handgun he kept at his desk. Rick eventually grabbed the gun and checked it's magazine, seven 0.5 mm bullets were ready to go.

Whoever was knocking earlier knocked again, this time a little harder. Rick didn't wanna keep the guess waiting, so he kept his gun close to him as he grabbed the knob and opened it, "Chernov?" he asked.

"Rick," said Chernov, "Did I startled you?"

"A bit, bro. Why you asked?"

"The gun your holding by your hip."

Chernov's perception defeats Rick's once again, "Is that Rachael?"

"Yes Rickie." said Rachael as she smiled.

"Come in quick, you're letting out the cold."

Chernov and Rachael quickly walked inside as Rick shuts the door, when he returned his attention to Chernov he noticed his clothes were covered in burned spots and his hand was heavily bandaged. Rick did not need to ask what had happened to him, "The Smurf Village was attacked, hadn't it?"

"Yup Rick," said Chernov as he pulled up a chair from the round table, "By red smurfs."

"Red smurfs!" cried Rick, "How did they find the village!"

"They knew the location of the village long before I ever met you Rick, it just so happened that we had pissed them off to a point where they moved on to easier prey. All of the blue smurfs are captured, the worst of it all was that the invasion was planned by a high red smurf official. The smurfvee was disabled, so we had to take the useless emergency route to the colony. Me and Rachael were lucky to get out of there alive, our children however, were captured along with the blue smurfs."

"When did this happen?"

"About a couple hours ago, the invasion ended when it started snowing."

The thought of the background noise in Rick's HAM radio came back to mind again, was it caused by the red smurf's comms? "I had been trying to contact you this morning, it hadn't occurred to me that you were in trouble since you're never even on."

"I don't blame you Rick, besides, they cut the communication cables. The wireless signals can't seem to reach the colony at all, if they did they would might register as noise."

"I did pick up some noise."

"Then those were my cries for help you inevitably ignored. By the way, why were you trying to call me?"

"Chad need's your approval on the new military policies he had produced, including the approval of recently developed war technologies."

"This I gotta see, you have a list of it all?"

"Yes sir."

Rick grabbed a clipboard containing the list of Chad's work during his first few days in the Department of Defense, he watched Chernov read through the list as he stood there slightly nervous. Rachael grabbed a seat at the far end of the round table and took off her coat, she helped herself to some of Dashie's unopened moonshine. _A stiff drink won't do you good Rachael._ Rick thought.

"I guess choosing him paid off," said Chernov as he handed the clipboard back to Rick, "I'll approve it all officially. Rick, we're going to perform the first cabinet meeting in the Green Smurf Colony tonight."

"The what?" Rick asked.

Chernov sighed, "I'm going to gather all the secretaries from all GSVs and have a meeting with them, I'm going to tell them first before I announce it to everyone else."

"They won't like secrets being kept from them Chernov, they're a bit stubborn on that."

"Then tell them that I'm going to tell them. Inform the colony that I'm going to perform a speech at noon tomorrow, tell them to expect it be extremely bad news worse than someone actually dying."

"To put it that way, that might actually work."

"Say nothing more until the meeting Rick, inform every secretary that they must be there tonight. It is vital that they show up, no exceptions."

"Yes bro."

Chernov sat back in his chair and knocked an empty beer bottle onto the floor, it clattered before rolling to the edge of the room. "You want a drink or something Chernov?" asked Rick.

"Some hot spruce tea," said Chernov, "With honey."

"What about you Rachael?"

Rachael puts down the moonshine jug, "I would like what Chernov's having."

"Okay, I'll go fetch it and then we'll plan the meeting."

"Okay bro."

Rick opened the front door and stepped outside, once he closed the door behind him he went across the street to the bar that had opened up. The bar was dubbed "The Command Bar," as it was sitting right across from the Command Center. The Command Bar not only serve alcoholic drinks, but also other beverages. Green smurfs were going against the idea of drinking alcohol since it cools you down by dilating the blood vessels, larger blood vessels can't hold heat as well, which would lead to hypothermia in this kind of weather. That won't stop some green smurfs from drinking though, especially Rick's girlfriend who happened to be a heavy drinker.

Their relationship had been going on since the early days of the green smurf race, back then she was provocative and seductive. Rick liked her for those two traits, so much so that he managed to have a child with her. Many green smurfs had children right after getting a relationship with each other in the Pre-Humanoid War days, the goal was to reproduce and have kids since there weren't many green smurfs around. The boom of green smurfs getting born were the second generation of the race, the first generation created _naturally _on the earth. It was a good world back then, as the green smurfs were more smurf than human.

Weeks after Dashie had the child, she went and had herself sterilized. Surgery was easy for green smurfs to perform, as long as it doesn't involve the nervous system in anyway. Dashie undergone what is known as a hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus. After her transition from a male blue smurf to a female green smurf, the menstruation periods were hell, before and after giving birth to the green smurfling. She made the decision on having the organ removed after having a really bad period. Rick was a bit disturbed when it happened, he was right next to her and saw the whole thing unfold. _Disgusting_. Rick thought.

She was relieved to had the organ removed, after its removal Dashie's uterus was incinerated. And that was that. She felt sore around the area where the stitches are, even still bearing the scars of that dismal surgery. It seemed a good idea at the time, until tragedy struck. The young infant, no more than a month old, had contacted a bad case of influenza. Rick's own child happened to be Patient Zero of this disease, he believed it was brought in by a bird since his father had left them with some knowledge about the disease before he left. He can remember Dashie being at the child's side for days, she was so emotionally compromised that Rick couldn't even get near her.

Nonetheless, the green smurfling died. Even worse, Dashie can no longer reproduce. Realizing her mistake about the surgery, she had a breakdown and became an alcoholic. Rick heard a cruel joke about her that she was just like the red smurfs, a part of him think it was true. For the first time, he questioned his relationship with her. She wasn't the same before the green smurfling's death, heck, Rick had mostly forgotten the infant. He couldn't even remember the name nor gender. It was history, he accepted it and moved on. To bolster that acceptance, he convinced himself he wasn't even ready anyway. Dashie on the other hand, chose to hang on. This decision caused her health to deteriorate.

A couple of months ago, she came down with a case of Cirrhosis, a disease in which the liver becomes damaged and scarred by either chemical or disease. Rick's insisted Dashie to have a doctor look at her beer gut that took weeks to form, the green smurfette agreed without question. She wound up going under the knife again, what the surgeon found was that her liver was so horribly damaged that it was starting to decompose. It was by luck that a green smurf had died that day, Rick didn't knew his name. The green smurf's liver was quickly harvested and transplanted to Dashie, eventually saving her life. Dashie's deteriorated liver as sent to the incinerator, the same incinerator that burned her uterus. As she was undergoing recovery, Dashie told Rick that she wished she hadn't make it at all.

Rick couldn't blame her, she would give anything to make the pain stop. He began to realize that Dashie won't be in the world much longer, and he was already accepting that fate. Their relationship had deteriorated like her liver, but somehow there was just a smudge of love left. Is it true, that if you love someone so much that you would let them go? To Rick, he believes so.

He pushed open the door to the Command Bar and stepped inside, when the door shuts itself Rick swallowed when he spot Dashie sitting at the far corner of the bar. Dashie looked kinda down as she rest her chin on her fist. She took tight sips of her vodka, Rick assumed she was still thinking about her problems. Dashie wasn't the only one here, there was a pretty beat up green smurf in one of the tables and two others talking happily to themselves at the bar. The bartender was washing out the glass mugs and bottles that were recently used by green smurfs, Rick thought a quarter of them might had been used by Dashie.

The bartender's name was Jack, another Humanoid Wars veteran. Jack had served in the army for a long time, quite happy with the job. He had participated in some skirmishes against the red smurfs when they start, his most recent one was his last. Jack was shot in the leg by a red smurf sniper, a few days later the wound got infected. The infection was so bad that the leg had to be amputated up to the hip. In its place was a copper and titanium cybernetic limb, well hidden by Jack's camouflage smurf pants. His injury cost him his job, so now he works at the Command Bar when the position became available, the previous owner had been killed after an S-34 tank ran him over during a red smurf skirmish. Jack was kind enough to oversee the green smurf's incineration in the fire pits, everything beyond that was another story.

"Jack," said Rick, "I require your services."

Jack looked up at Rick and sat his towel down, "You need anything Lieutenant?"

"I need two hot spruce tea with honey, Chernov and Rachael need some."

"Since you say need, I'm assuming they must be outside a little too long today."

"Correct."

"Very well, I'll fetch up a batch."

As Jack went on to prepare the drinks, the beaten up green smurf looked Rick and took a deep breath, "How are thinks Rick?"

"Everything's fine Jammy," said Rick, "How about you."

"I've seen worse, damn blizzard nearly froze my toes. Something's going to happen, I can feel it in the air and it's not good."

"What else don't you feel?"

"My ass."

Rick and Jammy laughed, the two green smurfs at the bar overheard the conversation and chuckled quietly to themselves. "Nice talking to you Jammy."

"We've just started, are you in a hurry?"

"Busy schedule, Chernov demands it."

"So the Supreme Commander is in town, again. His visits are becoming more frequent the past week, you think he's still upset over Greg's death?"

"Maybe, he never said much about it."

"Now I do recall we used to have _two _Greg's, I think the first one died in a vertibird accident a year back."

"No Jammy, there's only one Greg."

Jammy took a sip of his beer and sat back, "What do you know, my memories are being fuzzy again. No more beer for the rest of the month, move on to vodka."

That got Dashie snickering, maybe Jammy was trying to be both funny _and _serious at the same time. Who knows? "Okay Lieutenant Commander," said Jack as he sat two mugs of spruce tea on the bar table, "Here you go, hope it warms Chernov up."

"Thanks Jack." said Rick.

"Your welcome bro."

Rick took the cups and was about to walk out the door when Dashie chirped up, "Rickie, is Chernov here?"

"Yeah," said Rick, "And Rachael as well."

Dashie snort, "I guess fat ass is drinking my moonshine again, I know it."

Rick didn't wanna say anymore, he turned towards the door and head out before Dashie said anything else.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	18. Act II: Chapter XVIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XVIII_

The conference room was big enough to handle all the secretaries, yet small enough to make verbal communication transfer with ease. Chernov had the location of the meeting top secret, Rick had followed his strict orders by notifying every secretary in person to go to the location. The table was rectangular, enough to hold 6 green smurfs on each sides and one at each end. Chernov sat in one end of the table as Rick sat in the other. The 6 secretaries were Gizmo, Secretary of Advanced Technology; Lizzy, Secretary of Education; Abigael, Secretary of Agriculture; Tesla, Secretary of Energy; Judd, Secretary of Maufacturing; and Chad, the recently appointed Secretary of Defense. Chernov was impressed that they all arrived when called upon, he chose his advisers well.

Gizmo wears a pair of green grease stained overalls and a pair of goggles. His brown hair was greasy, as if he hadn't bathed in days. The green smurf had heavy experience when it comes to technology and communications. He was the radical version of Handy Smurf as some would say, others would say he's flat out insane. Gizmo spends his time working on new inventions or innovations that would one day change the colony forever. On a good day, he would repair 30 vehicles till midnight. Fellow was friendly, very social, and never stops talking. Whatever he had something to say, anyone would either listen or be completely annoyed. Chernov enjoys listening to this half-sibling a lot, when he's in a good mood that is. Though he and Chernov never talked much, Gizmo was the green smurf Chernov needs when he needed something fixed, like his smurfvee a few days ago for example.

Even with his experience, Gizmo had been somewhat clumsy at times. A week ago, he accidentally dropped one of his acetylene tanks and the valve broke off. The tank took off like a rocket, eventually shooting up through the roof of his workshop and into the skies above the building. It exploded in a brilliant fireball that scared the crap out of those who heard it, a green smurf claimed that it benefited him for clearing out his constipation. For Chernov, it wasn't funny, anyone would had gotten hurt. So he had Judd redesign the safety valves of _all _gas tanks and punished Gizmo by pulling a prank on him, putting laxatives in his cereal. Conventional punishment doesn't work on green smurfs, you need to punish them psychologically, not physically. Humiliating them seemed to be the only way for them to learn hard lessons, which Gizmo took well.

Lizzy was a more sweeter and more rational person. Like some green smurfettes, she was slightly shorter than the average adult. She wore a pair of green overalls and a camouflaged smurf hat, her hair was finely trimmed to her ears with some strands sticking out in some directions. She was once part of the Green Smurf Army, until one fateful day she took a shotgun blast to the face from a red smurf. She had been lucky to survive, even luckier to make it out without serious damage to her eyes and brain. The experienced forced her to retire from the army and she went on hitting the books. Her schedule consist of educating the young green smurflings, her skills and tactics of children were perfected as time passes. The help of her childish personality helped her in her new career and forming a daughter/father relationship with Chernov.

Abigael, or Abby, wore a pair of green overalls and a camouflaged smurf hat, her most stunning feature was her huge girth. When calculating smurf body size, they use the "smurf-size" measurement, which is the average width of a blue smurf and weighs 28 grams. Rachael for example were two smurfs wide, about 52 grams, Abigael however was 4 smurfs wide and weighs 112 grams. Her obesity was the result of her career. During the Pre-Humanoid War days, she served as a cook for the colony. When the Humanoid Wars came and went, she soon became Chernov's Secretary of Agriculture after sampling one of her dishes. Schedule was simple, oversea all farming and food inspection operations. Safety was a must, Abby was presistent of that after seeing Chernov suffer from food poisoning one day. She "samples" 8 different types of dishes per day, checking for the best quality of foods before distributing them to the entire colony. Her weight soared to times three within months, eventually leveling off after going through several sizes of clothing.

No one could say that Abby was weak, she was known for being one of the strongest green smurfs in the colony. She lifts weights about 30 hours a week, more than any other green smurf in the colony. Not even Hefty comes close to her habit. Its safe to say that the increase muscle mass made up some of her weight gain, it helps avoid bias from stubborn human beings who think otherwise about weight. Abby was strong enough to lift 3 times her body weight, so strong that she can lift an S-34 tank using one hand. Her strength and size had Chad proposing her to his juggernaut division in the army, but she gladly refused, saying her job was keeping everyone well fed and not out pumping lead into the enemy. Of course, everyone must do their part.

Tesla wears a pair of green overalls and a camouflaged lab coat, his hair was wild, looking like he had touched electricity or something. The green smurfs, including Chernov, found him virtually insane at times. He was a self-proclaimed "Mad Scientist", Chernov even gave him that title officially just to prove his point. Tesla was frantic, always going and not slowing down. He spends day and night checking everything in the utility controls in GSV 5, the job was both sophisticated as it was complex. If Tesla failed to accomplish one of the many steps set in place to keep the utility networks functioning, then disaster will unravel faster than a human can pull a zipper.

Being true to his nature, Tesla was an insomniac. He only sleeps every 3 days or so, one time he stayed up for 11 days and slept for 2 days straight. During that sleeping period, he missed out a lot of his everyday tasks which caused the power grid to fail. Chernov's medical experience resulted in having the mad scientist taking lithium to treat his insanity. Lithium serves no natural role in the body, when taken it calms the mind and reset the body's internal clock. Tesla calmed down and was sleeping more regularly, but Chernov was certain that his immune system was resisting the effects of the element that was used to make batteries. Despite Tesla's psychology problems, Chernov was proud to have him around.

Judd wears only a camouflaged smurf hat and pants, like Abby he was obese but he was only three smurf-sizes. He was known for being best friends with Chad and having a relationship with Abby, which soon led him to his current job. Judd's schedule was mainly keeping the labor force cared for as they produce the needed supplies, the colony's survival depends on them. He regularly had the workers rotated to keep them from getting bored and giving them time off to rest. When any green smurf such as Tesla and Gizmo comes to him to introduce their innovations and ideas, Judd builds them, try them out, and if he likes it then he ships it off to be mass-produced in the factories. He served in the Green Smurf Army in the past, and even fought along side Chad during his days of military service. Now he was put up on draft, when war comes he will answer the call.

All the secretaries were just getting settled, Dashie sat in the corner of the room taking notes with a pencil and notepad. Strange, nobody asked for her to take notes nor was it a habit of hers. No matter, Chernov was determine to put this moment in the history books anyway. He looked over at the clock and discovered that it was zero-hundred hours, the official start of a new day. Best get started, "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "The first cabinet meeting in the Green Smurf Colony is now in session."

"So what's happening Chernov?" asked Gizmo.

"I suppose it must be urgent," said Tesla, "Seeing that hand of yours got me worried."

_All green smurfs, _thought Chernov, _Always known for their sympathies._

"Yes Tesla, this injury was the result of something dire. So to make a long story short, I'll tell you all the most important thing. At ten-hundred hours this morning, red smurfs had attacked the Smurf Village and kidnapped every single blue smurf in the settlement. Worse still, they appeared to had planned this for quite awhile since they were so organized."

No one said a word for a moment, the only sound everyone heard was Dashie scribbling away on her notepad, "Are you serious?" asked Abby.

"I would be here if I wasn't." said Chernov.

"Did you try to contact us?" asked Lizzy.

"They took out my comms, me and Rachael were all on their own."

"What about Pappy?"

"Didn't see him once throughout the invasion, no sign of him after it was all over."

"So this is what the big fuss was about," said Chad, "But why have this mandatory meeting at night?"

"What we're about to do today will change the history of our colony and smurf civilization as we know it. Cause we're now past the brink of war."

"I thought we were already at war." said Judd.

"No, those were just skirmishes. We're no longer in a state of Absolute War, we're now in a state of Total War. And in order to fight this war, we must leave the comforts of the colony and into a land where the red smurfs roam. The state of the blue smurfs depends on us, no one else."

"Do we have a choice?" asked Lizzy, her eyes showing shock.

"I'm afraid not Liz, there's no easy way out. Blood will be spilled before a peace treaty would be signed."

"No way out? Can we send a diplomat to get the blue smurfs out Chernov?"

"Those red smurfs won't reason with us, and I'm the only one who speaks Russian here. Diplomacy is not an option, if we don't act then they will. This is an opportunity that we might wipe the red smurfs off the face of the Earth, we'll might never had to deal with them ever again. Look guys, our father bred us for war. And war we shall wage."

"So what are we going to call this war?" asked Abby, "Its gotta have a name."

"The Primary War," said Chernov, "Think of it, green, red, blue smurfs. See where I'm going?"

"Oh, primary colors." said Lizzy, "Appropriate."

"I like to know how did they find that Smurf Village in the first place," said Gizmo, "That village was well hidden."

"Unfortunately, they did have knowledge on the Smurf Village's exact location for almost two years now." said Chernov, "They've known about the village's location even before the days of the Humanoid Wars. It's just what I feared, I knew it would happen. I should have let a few green smurfs live in the village to help guard the place."

"It isn't your fault Chernov," said Chad, "We would be overwhelmed even if the Smurf Village was armed to the teeth."

"I suppose you're right, since they live in a clearing and not underneath old growth trees, it could be a lost cause to begin with."

"The red smurfs outnumber us a hundred to one," said Tesla, "So how come they didn't bring in the entire calvary?"

"They're probably not as unified as we think, but I may need some evidence to support this thought. If that's the case, then we don't have to do all the work in defeating the red smurfs." That's when Chernov sighed, "How many of us had children by the way?"

"I have a daughter." said Chad.

"I know you had a daughter.

"I lost mine." grumbled Dashie as she scribbled in a few more words in her note pad.

"I have no children." said Judd.

"None." said Lizzy.

"I have 6," said Abby, "Sextuplets, yeah I'm that good."

"I'm sure you can fit more children in that belly of yours Abby." said Dashie.

Everyone laughed, including Abby. Chernov was not laughing, and when the green smurfs realized this they all piped up, "I do have a son," said Tesla, "But he spends time with my girlfriend, I see him once in awhile but we never speak much."

"Had children myself," said Gizmo, "But they died, the flu was merciless."

"As for me guys," said Chernov, "I have two twin children, and they're in the hands of the enemy along with the blue smurfs."

Everyone froze, for a moment they didn't say a single word. Chernov gave nod, satisfied that he finally brought them on a personal level. Interestingly enough, the twins were captured before by the red smurfs. They had their mother along for the ride. But this time, they're on their own, "What are we going to tell the entire colony bro?" asked Rick.

"A declaration of war," said Chernov, "What a coincidence that Chad had improved the armed forces to a great extent. All we had to do is figure out where the blue smurfs are being kept, when they're found we'll march over there and free them from the Red Menace."

"We're telling the colony tomorrow?" asked Lizzy.

"Yes, tomorrow. Somewhere around noon. This meeting is now dismissed, all of you green smurfs head home and get some rest. We're going to be busy for the next few weeks."

All the secretaries got up from their chairs and head for the door, Dashie shuts her notebook and stormed off without saying a word, "Chernov," asked Lizzy, "Do you have a moment?"

"Yes Liz," said Chernov, "Guys, clear out."

By the time everyone left the room, Lizzy rushed up to Chernov and hugged him tightly. She began to crying almost instantly, "There there," said Chernov as he wrapped his arms around her, "What's wrong Lizzy."

"Smurfette, she's gone."

"We'll get her back, I'll promise you that."

Lizzy looked up at Chernov as he wiped a tear off of her cheek with his thumb, "She's a tough smurf," he said, "She's originally made to be a spy, maybe she would find a way out of there. Who knows?"

"I hope so," said Lizzy, "I couldn't live without her being there, I'm too young for this."

"We're all too young, our father made us look older to begin with. I know what its like to loose a mother, but my case is permanent. I can assure you that you'll move on without her, all you have to do is be there for her and you're good."

"Thanks Chernov."

"Your welcome Liz."

**. . .**

Dashie fast walked down the road as the cover of the night cloaks her. She promised Rick that she would be home soon, telling him that she had an errand to run. Rick appeared that he didn't believed her. _Typical_, Dashie thought, _Probably thinking I'm out getting wasted again._

The snow was colder than she had expected, her coat wasn't helping much to insulate her. Dashie was determined to get her job done, there wasn't much time to waste. With all the green smurfs sleeping tonight, she doesn't expect to have company. She needed to be alone, the drop off point was somewhere outside the colony. There would be a small area, a hole where she must locate in order to accomplish her task. A wind blew up her jacket, Dashie buried her chin in the coat as she picked up the pace. It was frigging cold, her legs will probably get frostbite for sure. She knew she must hurry, the last thing Dashie needs is a search party looking for her.

She made her way out of the colony and walked down the road for a brief moment, after getting a few meters away Dashie drift off into the side and pushed through the snow and hibernating vegetation of the forest. After getting some distance from the road, she approach a thick tree whose roots were exposed by a small cavity in the dirt. She jumped into the cavity and began to dug aside the snow with her hands, the cold bite her fingers like a thousand razor blades. After clearing out a small hole, Dashie pulled an envelope out of her jacket and tuck it inside. She covered the hole with some twigs and snow before leaving the area. Dashie was sure no one saw her, hopefully no one saw her.

_Okay, _she thought, _Time to head back._

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	19. Act II: Chapter XIX

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XIX_

Papa Smurf felt disoriented, every single part of his body felt sore. He wasn't sure what had happen, all he knew was that he was in a dire situation. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on a wooden chair. His wrists were bounded to the armrests, he tried to move the chair but it wouldn't budge. It seemed to be bolted to the floor. The room itself was a small concrete cell, a small LED ceiling lamp was the only thing lighting up the place. Without it, Papa Smurf would be in the dark. In front of the village leader was a solid metal door, it looked highly advanced, not the iron bar doors he was used to in dungeons. He can tell that this was _not _a dungeon, but something worse.

"Hello?" he called out.

His voice sounded hoarse, Papa Smurf cleared his throat and tried again.

"Hello, is anysmurf there?"

Faint voice coming from outside the cell responded almost immediately, but they weren't directed at him. Papa Smurf listened closely, the voices may be muffled by the walls but he could still make out words. He didn't understand the words, they were alien to him. It wasn't English, nor was it Dutch or German. _What were the words?_ Papa Smurf wondered. Was his kidnappers discussing about him or some other topic? He wasn't sure, Papa Smurf was too tired to care anyway, he was more concerned about the language than the conversation.

He listened closely, his fertile mind tried its best to decipher the language he was hearing. Several nerves ached, a lobe screamed in agony, it led Papa Smurf nowhere to determine the identity of the language. _Foreigners_, Papa Smurf thought, _They're foreign._

The iron door popped open and a foot stuck through the ajar, followed by the rest of the body. Papa Smurf's eyes widened as an official looking red smurf stepped right on through, "My name is General Adrian Dragovich," said the red smurf as he slammed the door shut, stinging Papa Smurf's ears, "Leader of the Red Smurf Army... and the entire red smurf race. I have to admit that the information we received from our informants had revealed your little village of yours."

Papa Smurf said nothing, but Dragovich kept talking, "You thought that poisonous mushrooms was your best deterrent, or the green smurf's Supreme Commander's protection? Either way, they failed, and my red smurfs plucked your blue ones with ease."

"What happened to Chernov?" asked Papa Smurf.

Dragovich cracked a smile, "My field officers informed me that he was KIA, do you know what that means?"

Papa Smurf shook his head no.

"Killed in action. He was shot by an RPG, the blast knocked him off of a tree where he fell to his death. Once he was out of action, all that anxiety that had built up in my invading force had eased. I do expect sympathy from my officers, Chernov was the most bravest smurf I had ever seen in my entire life. Reminds me of my papa smurf in every way."

"Your papa smurf?"

"We call him the Elder Smurf, slightly older than you and with graying hair. He raised me throughout my childhood, I look up to him as my father. I loved him and he loved me, thinking back at those days... was a world I wished to have again. It was when I became an adult 25 years ago when things started to change."

"What happened?"

"His mind went into a fog, the seven hundred year old smurf was reaching the end of his line. Every day that past, he became less fit to lead. I had to assist him heavily on daily tasks, his short term memory degraded heavily. It wasn't long when I woke up one day and discovered he doesn't recognize me, it haunted me to this day."

"I'm sorry."

"No no, I knew he was going to leave this world long before the sh#t hits the fan. So by the time he finally died, I already finished grieving. He was no soldier, yet he acted very similar to the Wunderwaffe. When I took his place, I inherited a species so unstable that I can't imagine all the stereotypes you blue and green skins had built up. I knew what I had to do, you and your blue smurfs are the key to my plan."

"What do you want with my smurfs?"

"It's not just them, its you. I know that you're the glue that holds everything together. If you die, your smurfs die along with you. The green smurfs know this very well. So tell me, had you been used for ransom before?"

"No."

"Well that's the situation you're in. I had to wait 48 hours for you to wake up, I guess the tranquilizer was a little to strong. The headache should go away but the emotional toll you're taking would, as I say, take a little longer to fade. Now to get down to business," he stepped closer to Papa Smurf and circled him like a shark, his hand skimmed the rim of the wooden chair ever so slightly, "I'm holding you and your smurfs in exchange for the gold and technology of the green smurfs, I'm sure they're willing to cooperate."

"How would you be sure they would cooperate since Chernov had been... smurfed?"

"So you don't believe he is dead, I share that concern. Red smurfs always jump to the conclusions, well not me. I knew how tough Chernov Reznov is, I'll be hoping if he's still alive. If the Green Smurf Colony decided to slaughter many of my red smurfs to get you back, then that would be the _obvious _sign the Wunderwaffe is dead."

Dragovich stopped in front of him and looked at him directly into the eye, "Had your papa smurf ever told you about my race?"

"No."

"No? My colonels somewhere around your age knows your papa smurf personally, they were mere red smurflings back then. He told us about the Smurf Village to begin with."

"How can you be-"

General Dragovich reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo, Papa Smurf squinted, he managed to see a middle aged version of Grandpa Smurf in a group of red smurfs posing for the photo, "Great smurfs." said Papa Smurf.

"We all have secrets comrade," said Dragovich as he tucked the photo away in his pocket, "Hard to believe that one of your own revealed the delicate location of your village, I wouldn't say it was betrayal, it was a different time back in his day."

"I don't believe this."

"So my suspicion was true after all..."

Dragovich walked behind him and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head back. Papa Smurf felt his hair being plucked clean off from his scalp like being stabbed by a million pins, "That the old village leader of the Smurf Village is hopelessly out of step in the changing world, refusing to realize what it means to be _humanoid_."

He thrust Papa Smurf's head forward, the old smurf let out a grunt as his neck gave off small cracking sounds, "I'll get a clock mounted in this room," said Dragovich, "That way, you won't loose your sense of time. You might not understand it since its a 24 hour clock, but it is aligned perfectly with the earth's rotation. I hope your mind doesn't turn against you, it would result in a slow excruciating death."

General Dragovich spoke sharply in Russian and the metal door popped open, he soon walked out of the room as the door closed behind him. He left so fast that Papa Smurf couldn't see what was really out there, and sure enough he was alone again.

_My smurf, _he thought, _It's much worse than I'd thought, his Chernov really dead? Did Grandpa Smurf betray us? No no no, it's just a claim, nothing to smurf it up... nothing to smurf it up..._

**. . .**

Dragovich returned to his office where Izotov sat and waited, the general handed the photo back to his officer and he tucked it into his pocket, "So what did you tell him?" asked Izotov.

"I got him in a position of doubt," said Dragovich as he sat back in his chair, "Seems that the plan is working."

"It would work properly if the Wunderwaffe is still alive."

"The report was unconfirmed, I will not assume that he's dead."

"How smart of you, now what are you going to do with the blue smurfs. Once they start to panic, the red smurfs would find themselves shooting them on the spot."

"I gave them strict orders on not to shoot them, they know what happens if they disobey that order."

"But you didn't give them orders not to beat their asses."

"Hm, I guess I have more work to do. Containing the blue smurfs wouldn't be a problem, cells similar to the one I had Papa Smurf stored in would be specially guarded. They're outnumbered, heavily outnumbered. Without a leader, they would surely falter."

"If you keep them isolated enough, they would might go insane. Which is perfect for demoralizing them."

"I can't keep them locked up forever Izotov, they would be freed nonetheless. But I have a card up my sleeve, a card that would cause them to distrust each other."

Izotov leaned forward, "Oh, like what?"

"Well, first I need to find a smurf whose mind is willing to cooperate."

Dragovich got up and head over to the filing cabinets, he opened a drawer and began to thumb through the blue smurf's profiles, looking for a profile that might help him. "Supposing this Brainy character might do," said Dragovich as he pulled out Brainy's file, "Let's see what he had to offer."

Dragovich took the file back to his desk and opened it up, "Yes," he said, "This Brainy is perfect."

"That blue skin with the glasses?" asked Izotov.

"Yes."

"What kind of plans you would have for him?"

General Dragovich looked up at Izotov, "Something that I had been working on since my teens, I'll reveal the plan to you once I'm ready. Why? Well, I'm not sure if it's going to work. Still, I'm eager to try new things. Do you comrade?"

"Trying new things, I have no problem. Thinking new things, that's a different story."

The door opened and Colonel Nikolai stepped on through, "Comrade General," he said, "I have mail for you."

"Mail?" Dragovich asked, "Oh yes, I'd been expecting mail for quite some time now."

"From who?"

"From an informant."

Nikolai handed Dragovich a thin document envelope before sitting down in a chair next to Izotov, Dragovich opened it up and pulled out the contents, "Da, da, this is good. The Wunderwaffe lives, he had sustained only a small injury: An amputated index finger on his right hand."

"Ouch." muttered Nikolai.

After reading more, Dragovich's expression dropped, "He's declaring war, seems that he's not going to negotiate."

"He doesn't even know where we are," said Nikolai, "It doesn't make much of a difference."

"Its much more worse than we think it is," said Izotov, "The Wunderwaffe must be in an emotional state right now, not thinking straight, we're going to feel the full force of the Green Smurf Army _and _Air Force once they mobilized. Those stealth bombers will be undetectable on our radar, if they find our base-"

"Which they will," interrupted Dragovich, "But they won't dare bomb us, because the blue skin's prison will be in harms way. They aren't dumb enough to just bomb us right away, they first need to know where the blue smurfs are before they bomb our infrastructure."

"A mastery of your part for designing this place," said Izotov, "But what about the precision bombers?"

"We'll have the AA guns be manned 24/7, but if the precision bombers use stealth then we'll have some birds up in the air to keep a lookout for them."

"Our fighters and bombers aren't sophisticated as theirs General," said Nikolai, "We wouldn't be a match."

"We outnumber them in the air force, you know that Nikolai."

"Numbers isn't going to help us, you need to use... _unconventional _methods."

"Assuming that they're on to the same idea, we'll come up with some new superweapons. How's our rocket technology going?"

"The SV3 rockets are tipped with 50 grams of TNT, it would be enough to annihilate an entire field of tanks."

"How many in stock?"

"Twenty."

"Do they have proximity charges?"

"Every single one of them."

"Good, very good. Now Nikolai, may I ask who was the courier for delivering me this information?"

"Sergei, as usual. Picked it up at the drop zone where your informant left it."

"Brave lad, he deserves an extra bottle of vodka, with apple cider flavoring."

"The boy chugs the vodka before he goes to sleep at night," said Izotov, "It helps him sleep when things get rough for him."

"Its already one-hundred hours, its time to get some shuteye."

"Yeah, good night comrade." said Nikolai as he got up from his chair.

"Night." said Izotov.

"I'll wrap some things up before bed," said Dragovich, "We're going to have a busy day tomorrow and we'll need a short and important schedule."

"Yes we do, yes we do."

**. . .**

The cell was very cramped, it only contained a bed, a toilet, and a sink. The place looked like it hadn't been cleaned in weeks, evidenced by the concrete walls and floor covered in stains and cracks. The cell door itself was slightly rusted, or was it blood, there was a small window on the door where he could peek out of. Brainy looked out through the small window and saw metal balconies and rows of iron doors. He swore he saw his fellow smurfs through the tiny windows of the cell doors, Brainy wasn't sure if they noticed him or not.

He had no idea how he got here, but he knew that it wasn't good. Already he had been awake for a few hours, yet he didn't know how much time had past. All he remembered was stepping outside to get some fresh air one night, and that was it. Brainy had been prisoner before, as well as his fellow smurfs. But this was different, and it also brought back memories from the Humanoid Wars, bad ones. Brainy had to accept the fact that Papa Smurf wasn't going to help this time, he just knew it, even felt it. This was out of his league, and the situation doesn't appear to be getting better.

Brainy laid down on the bed and tried to figure out a plan on getting out, the appearance of his cell told him that his captors weren't friendly. Whatever they'd did to him in order to get here was still taking its toll on Brainy's head, he felt nauseous, what did they do to him?

As he sat there trying not to throw up, he heard some noise outside his cell door. It sounded like an argument, and it sounded serious. Brainy sucked it up and got back onto his smurfy feet, then looked out the small window to see what was happening. There, a couple of red smurfs at the opposite side of the grand hall, was escorting one of his own smurfs at gunpoint with SK-47s. They were yelling at him in Russian, the blue smurf was being naive about it, "Yeah, yeah," he said, "I'm going, I'm going."

Brainy recognized the voice as Hefty, and soon saw his tattoo on his arm. They must be telling Hefty to hurry up, since he appeared to be walking a little slow. Without warning, one of the red smurf's raised his weapon and whacked Hefty in the back of the head with its butt. Hefty went down, but he wasn't out. Just as the other red smurf tried to grab him, Hefty grabbed the conscript by the collar of his trenchcoat and brought him down to his level where he proceed to beat the crap out of him. The conscript standing proceed to continuously beat Hefty with the butt of his SK as his partner brawls with the smurf. Many smurf faces appeared on the windows of the cell doors as the more red smurfs swarmed in to take control of the situation.

Just as Hefty was being swarmed, he managed to throw the red smurf he was fighting with over the balcony. Brainy's eyes widened as he saw the red smurf fall, and was even more shocked when Hefty was brought down by yet another whack to the back of the head. This time Hefty drop to the floor and didn't get back up, Brainy saw the blood pouring out of Hefty's mouth, he felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach where it dissolved into liquid poison, _They killed him! _He thought, _They smurfing killed him!_

The smurfs who were witnessing the situation unfold were either terrified or crying, Brainy couldn't bare to see his faces, his eyes went to the safety rails just outside his door. It was all he could look at for the moment. As the red smurfs were dragging Hefty away, Brainy began to hear a banging noise. It was growing louder and closer, it sounded a bit fast but not so fast where it sounded like a machine gun. Even with the warning, it didn't prevent Brainy from staggering backwards and falling to the floor when the butt of an SK slammed at the window frame of his cell. It was a red smurf warning the prisoners to not pay anymore attention, Brainy laid there as the banging went past him. He counted the bangs and got to 15 where it stopped altogether.

It wasn't long before the chaos subside into calm, but the sea was still restless. Brainy could hear his friends in the cells next to him crying. Was that Smurfette crying? Maybe, at least he wasn't alone. Brainy got back up and slumped back onto the bed, at least it had a pillow and blanket, it was a little hard than the bed he was used to but it was good enough. Brainy tried to purge the thoughts of what he had seen moments earlier, then returned back to sleep and into dreamland. He hadn't forgotten a thing, which made the dreams nightmares to him.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	20. Act II: Chapter XX

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XX_

A new day came when the light of the sun bathed the earth in its warm glow. The green smurfs were just getting up, they were slipping on their morning attire and were beginning to go off to work. The snow had already stopped falling, which was a blessing since 20 centimeters of the white powder had fallen. Thankfully the roads were cleared via the use of plows attached to the bumpers of smurfvees, a little extra salt took care of the snow that had remained.

The temperature was already negative 5 degrees Celsius, any lower and the salt would become ineffective against the build up of snow. The green smurfs tried to fight back the cold by keeping their homes constantly heated, in some areas where green smurfs gathered around small fire pits were started up. The quest for warmth was so dire that the hot springs were being used to the max. They were used to the cold, but they do had their limits. The weather wasn't on their mind at the moment, they were wondering why the radio was silent. Some speculated that Rick had slept in, others weren't so sure, it could be a bad sign that something was about to happen.

It wasn't long before whatever radio that remained on crackled to life, and Rick's voice blundered out of their tiny speakers, "Sorry for the delay for not beginning the official start of the day," said Rick, "I got some breaking news, and I'm afraid that this will effect us all. I'll give it a few minutes for all of you green smurfs to spread the word. Turn on a radio and make sure anyone around that radio was listening, cause I will not repeat the words I'm about to say."

Almost immediately, green smurfs began to huddle around any radio that was left on. Within minutes almost every radio was turned on, many green smurfs, smurfettes, and smurflings were desperate to get within hearing range of the radios. One green smurf took giant speakers normally use for stages and created a receiver for the green smurfs to hear. At the Command Bar, Jack was stunned to have the entire place packed with green smurfs so they can all listen to a radio, even when the source was just across the street.

"Yesterday," began Rick, "Supreme Commander Chernov Reznov and his girlfriend Rachael Reznov had arrived to the colony via secret emergency route with word that the Smurf Village had been attacked and the blue smurfs kidnapped. Spy planes swooped over the area and found the village abandoned, confirming Chernov's word. Yes, this was the secret I had all of you been waiting for. And now it is out, I'll have Chernov take over the microphone here. Okay bro, give it a shot."

"Greetings fellow half-siblings," said Chernov through the radios, almost immediately someone rigged a radio to the attack siren system and Chernov's voice was heard all over the colony, relieving the use of some of the radios that were occupied for the moment, "This is Chernov Reznov, the news that red smurfs had attacked the Smurf Village and kidnapped most of the occupants might had shocked you. But it gets more personal; this includes Smurfette, the biological mother of the green smurf race; and my own two children, Cherskey and Nelly Reznov."

"The Red Menace attacked and started to round them up, I wasn't able to contact the Command Center since they had jammed my radio and cut the emergency communication cables. Me and Rachael were on our own in the Smurf Village defense, it was a lost cause to begin with, but I managed to put a dent in their armed forces. I was injured during the fight, yet Rachael escaped without a scratch. It was only just an amputated index finger, the rest was bruises. I had no idea what the intentions are, but for the time being, I had authorized an official declaration of war. My fellow brothers and sisters, we're now at war again. And when I mean _war_, I do not mean the random red smurf attacks.

"We are going to go deep into the red smurf's territory and fight them there, we'll locate their base and free our loved ones from their clutches. From this point out, the green smurf military will be bolstered. Secretary of Defense, Chad Reznov, will be the head of the operation. As for me, I will be in charge of _all_ major engagements against the red smurfs. At fifteenth-hundred hours today, I'll establish a main fighting force for me to command personally. Rick and Chad will be having their own militia groups, there will only be three main fighting forces and nothing else.

"Note that there's only 1,500 of us, a chunk of our green smurf population are our children. Anyone who's participating in the fight will be heavily trained, those who are working in the factories will be put on overtime. We cannot afford to lose this war, if we lose then our species will go extinct. We're no longer having fun and games, we're now at the gates of hell. We will do our best to break in, grab our friends, and rush out before the red smurfs lock us in a war we will forever know as the Primary War. Good luck comrades, and await further instructions from me. That is all, and now returning the mic to Rick.

"Thank you Chernov," said Rick, "Before we set out on this new adventure of a tragedy, we'll first had to figure out where the smurfs are. Spy planes had already been deployed in looking for the smurfs, we actually have one smurf stuck with a tracking device just in case we ever loose them. He doesn't mind the device, since he doesn't know about it. The device can be picked up within 30 kilometers, or so it was theorized. Right now, the tracking device is activated, and we'll be looking for the signal that the device produces. With that in mind, he'll soon have the blue smurfs back into our arms and annihilate the red smurfs with our thunder. This is Richard Reznov at Green Smurf Radio, signing off."

. . .

On the Smurf River not so far from the colony, the _Galeo _was cruising along as if it was the weekends. Baldwin had just heard Rick's announcement on the radio, when it began to play music he cursed. He was just heading off to the Smurf Village to deliver a shipment of supplies, with the smurfs gone, all that time he had performed on loading the cargo and setting off from port had been all for nothing. He was stricken with frustration, grief, and anger. Baldwin sucked it up and sighed, he relaxed in his chair and pulled out a beer from the cooler.

With this Primary War up and running, Baldwin knew that he would be transporting troops instead of supplies up and down the river. He chose to be a captain of a trading vessel so he would avoid a war, he wasn't sure what will become of him but he knew that he will have to play a vital role on this river. Baldwin won't like it, but if his _Galeo _can withstand the stress then so can he. He chugged his beer as he slowed down the old steamboat, then made a U-turn back to home. Once he got the boat turned around, he shifted the gears and the boat began to push against the river.

Without warning Baldwin felt an explosion murmur throughout his vessel. The steam pouring out through the sides of the vessel made Baldwin curse, the steamboat's boiler had malfunctioned. Grumbling to himself, Baldwin set the gear to stop and got up from his chair, he stepped down to the stern where he tossed over the steamboat's anchor, once the boat was locked in place the captain approached the door that leads below deck and opened it. A huge plume of warm steam greeted him as it came pouring out of the room and out into the open cold air. Once he could see inside, Baldwin pushed through and eventually found out what happened, the emergency valve had blown open. It was hot as it was wet inside the room, condensation covered everything, not to mentioned the air was very stuffy.

_The steam tank had built up too much steam, _he thought, _This is the forth time this month!_

Baldwin soon remembered that he had forgotten to release all the steam from it's chamber yesterday, so he opened up the small windows and opened the valve leading to the outside. The boiler eventually stopped sissing and the pressure meter dropped to zero, Baldwin sealed up all the valves and loaded some more logs into the furnace. It was going to take awhile before the boiler built up enough steam for the turbines to turn, Baldwin locked the furnace's metal door and head back outside.

Just when he got his foot out the door, machine gun fire greeted him. Bullets pelt the side of the _Galeo_ as Baldwin dove back inside, "The hell!" he cursed.

The bullets sounded like it was coming off of the starboard side, Baldwin rushed up to the starboard 3 mm gun and peaked through it's small mounted window. He could see red smurfs hiding in the nearby woods on land, firing away with their assault rifles and 2 mm machine guns. Did they heard the explosion? Or were they waiting for him? Whatever the reason, they intended to kill Baldwin. He had to fight back.

He armed the 3 mm machine gun and opened fire at the red smurfs, Baldwin cut down one by firing shots into the red smurf's head and chest. Next he mowed down another one by striking them in the thigh and shoulder. Baldwin played it cool as he took careful shots, the red smurfs were simply unloading their weapons at the _Galeo's _hull. Odd, they weren't trying their best to aim at him. At first Baldwin dismissed it as red smurf ignorance until he thought it was a distraction, the captain let's go of the gun and pulled out his pistol. He crotched and kept it aim at the door, sure enough he saw a red smurf soaking wet trying his best to board the vessel from the stern.

The red smurf threw his weapon onto the deck and just barely got his foot over the edge before Baldwin fired a bullet into the red smurf's eye, the red smurf flopped onto the dock dead as blood poured out of Baldwin's fatal shot. That's when the gunfire stopped, it was soon replaced by the sound of red smurf's arguing at each other in rapid-fire Russian. Realizing he had not much time, Baldwin pocketed his handgun and rushed over to the stern and used his strength to pull the anchor out of the water. He managed to bring the anchor back on deck and dropped it next to the dead red smurf, free from the anchor the _Galeo _began to crept backwards as the Smurf River drags it along. He then grabbed the red smurf's SK-47 and pulled out some of the ammunition out of the body before returning to the bridge. Once there, he shift the gear forward to the max and the _Galeo_ jolted forward once again.

Almost immediately, the gunfire returned. Baldwin dropped prone and turned the safety off on the SK, he crawled over to the edge where he took a peak. He saw one of the red smurfs hold up an RPG-S and fired it, the shaped charge shot through the air and struck the side of the _Galeo_ hard. Thankfully it struck the area where it had caged armor, Baldwin knew that he wouldn't aim for the same area twice. So he aimed his rifle at the red smurf and put a round in his neck, blood shot out of the red smurf's neck as he dropped his RPG. Just as he put a hand over the wound, Baldwin put a round between his eyes and killed the red smurf outright. With that done, the red smurfs turned their gunfire towards the bridge and fired more rounds there.

Bullets bounced off the copper siding as Baldwin kept his head down, he counted on the _Galeo _to get him out of hot water. Sure enough, the gunfire began decrease. It got to a point where the steamboat's propellers muffled out the remaining noise. Realizing that he got away, Baldwin slumped back into his chair and exhaled. He let's the adrenaline cool down for a brief moment as he steered the _Galeo _straight down the middle of the river, _Whoa, that was one wild ride._

Baldwin relaxed enough to a point where he decided to go inspect the damage. He got up from his chair and stepped down below deck, the hole the RPG made was obvious. The area was slightly caved in next to the machine gun, the hole was big enough where Baldwin can stick his finger through it easily. But that's not all, he found some water pouring all over the floor. A leak, but where. Baldwin got to his knees and went through every crook and cranny of the _Galeo's _insides, looking for the source of the hole. Turns out it wasn't a hole, but a rupture within the solder holding two plates of copper together. The heavy vibration from the RPG must had broken the solder, since it was pure tin it was no surprised that it broke. Tin has a tendency to become brittle and crack under extreme cold.

Without wasting anymore time, Baldwin grabbed the propane blow torch and some solder out of the cabinet and began to seal the rupture. Water continued to pour through, making it difficult for the solder to stick onto the copper plating. Baldwin cursed himself for having an old boat, the newer boats have solder that were mixed with tin _and _lead. The solder Baldwin was using was that composition, it was easy to solder with the stuff yet it was almost virtually impossible when water was added to the mix.

The water was so cold and was rushing through so fast that Baldwin gave up on the solder, he eventually grab the duct tape off the shelf and sealed up the breech with it. It plugged the hole, but it won't hold indefinitely. Baldwin stashed the supplies back onto the shelf and returned to the bridge where he kept an eye out for red smurfs. He took another deep breath and exhaled, it would be awhile before the shock from the attack wears off, "Why do I always get bad luck," Baldwin asked himself, "Why?"

He turned back towards the controls and picked up the radio's microphone and pressed the call button, "This is the _GSS Galeo _calling Command Center," he spoke, "Over."

"Say your situation _Galeo_." said Rick's voice.

"I've been attacked by a band of red smurfs on the Smurf River, the _Galeo _has sustained some damage and has a leak in the hull. Requesting Overwatch, over."

"Request granted _Galeo_, where is your location on the river?"

"Somewhere halfway between the village and colony, not sure if there are more red smurfs in the area."

"Copy, Overwatch is on route, watch your six until vertibird arrives."

"Copy, over and out."

Baldwin puts the microphone back in its holder, _I wonder if a vertibird will do me any good_.

Something slammed into Baldwin's left shoulder blade, the inertia knocked him out of his chair and he went skidding on the _Galeo's _bridge. Immense pain shocked through the area where the object hit him, Baldwin placed his left hand onto the area and discovered it was wet. When he looked at his hand, he saw that it was covered in blood. Baldwin cursed, a sniper had shot him. Clearly the red smurfs wanted him dead, they were still out there stalking him. They must had found the shipping schedule at the village, Baldwin soon realized the truth. They want to take control of his steamboat so they can seize the supplies inside, not sinking it as he previously thought.

It made more sense, which made Baldwin sick to his stomach. Had he figured it out earlier he might had called for help sooner, now there wasn't enough time for help to arrive. How much trouble would the red smurfs go to get a hold of the _Galeo_ to begin with?

Baldwin heard the buffeting noises of an aircraft coming to him, he immediately assumed it was a vertibird. But as the noise grew louder, he can immediately tell that it was _not _a vertibird. Vertibirds were more quieter, the buffeting noises were louder than he anticipated, _Twinblade! _

Baldwin spot it coming out of the treeline within the distance, it was locking on to him. He grabbed the SK-47 and wrapped the sling over his good shoulder. Baldwin rushed over to the stern, barely dodging another sniper bullet as it streams by and clanked off the boat. He jumped overboard and dove into the Smurf River as the twinblade fired rockets at the _Galeo_, blowing it to smithereens.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	21. Act II: Chapter XXI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXI_

Chernov found that mobilizing the army was easy, finding the location of the HQ was more difficult than he could ever imagine however. The spy planes had covered most stretches of land near the colony and village, yet found no signs of any major red smurf operations. For a define location of their base, raiding the red smurf outposts seemed to be his best bet. Its either that, or combing the entire region awhile risking an encounter with human beings.

There just so happened to be a red smurf outpost just 15 kilometers away, the spy planes managed to pick them up on one of their recon runs. The outpost was only 40 square meters big, it sits near a pine forest that was famously known for being a dead zone. Chernov knew the place well. Before he met the blue smurfs, Brainy was launched here accidentally by Brainy. After spending a few days looking for food and water, Brainy was starving and was weak. He would had made a good snack for a hungry vulture if the four-eyed smurf hadn't stumbled into one of Chernov's father's traps.

Chernov had no idea why Dimitri was way out here to begin with, nor he was sure why this place seemed to suck him in on occasion. On one of his personal adventures, he was marooned out in that woods and caught a bad case of Typhoid. Its what he get for being malnourished, and jumping off a 200 meter waterfall with Azrael. Due to these personal experiences, Chernov knew his way around the forest all too well. He almost wish he hadn't. So when the map came in of the area surrounding the red smurf outpost, Chernov felt like he had suddenly developed a 6th sense.

He, Rick, and Chad studied the map carefully in the Command Center. The map was detailed very nicely, the cameras on the spy planes did their job well. The green smurfs can clearly see that the outpost had walls could be no more than half a meter thick, and it was all probably built out of the timbers the woods had to offer. The way the walls were designed made the place looked like an irregular pentagon, appropriate for the nearby creek which nearly encompassed the outpost. Since this outpost was far from any human civilization, it was a wise choice for the red smurfs to pick out the spot on their part. There were some black spots on the earth, indicating possible fire pits for burning trash. If any one these pits were to be burning at the right moment, it would help the green smurfs locate the outpost in the forest.

"So how do you want to do this Chernov?" asked Rick.

"Small groups of triads will be positioned here, here and here," said Chernov, "We aren't sure how many red smurfs are inside the outpost, but due to the size of these fire pits then the number could be small."

"How can you be sure?" asked Chad.

"The bigger the fire pit, the more red smurfs. Since there are 3 fire pits, my rough guess would be around 7 to 10 red smurfs, give or take."

"The infrastructure appears to be made out of pine," said Rick, "They'll might burn the place when we attack them Chernov?"

"We can either go in using stealth or guns blazing, further recon suggest that there isn't any possible chance of reinforcements if we jam their comms."

Rick sat back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair, "So we jam their comms and get them surrounded, what's going to stop them from burning Intel?"

"You know what, we go in using stealth. How about that?"

"I agree," said Chad, "If we hold the element of surprise long enough for us to get a hold of enemy Intel, then we can sneak out without raising alarm."  
>"Raid strategy established," said Rick, "What about the training of these red smurfs?"<p>

"Could be poor, red smurfs often neglect their subordinates a lot. Their leaders simply train them to use a firearm and that's it, they don't even train how to make a simple Molotov Cocktail, you have to figure that out on your own if you're in their army."

"A covert operation against the least experienced of the Red Smurf Army," said Rick, "May be the key to their main HQ, I would love to drill that outpost for as much information as my heart desire."

"You might get that chance, we're going in tonight."

"You and me?"

"With a few other green smurfs of course, we'll sneak in and cut them apart like bacteria. I'll let you swim in all the Intel when we find it, once we bring it back here of course."

"Ooh, goody."

"What about me Chernov," asked Chad, "What do I do?"

"You handle the radio. Even though Rick has more experience with communications equipment, his knowledge of reconnaissance and scouting goes further back."

"Ohhh. So what do we need for the covert operation?"

"Soft sole boots, tactical knives, and silencers for our weapons. I'll fill in the rest once we get a team together, its about time we get some experience built into our brethren."

Chad took a second look at the map and pointed at the nearby creek, "Does this creek by chance is a branch of the Smurf River?"

"Maybe, we couldn't fit in all the information into this map without blurring out the outpost."

"We can get in there by vertibird somewhere far from the outpost," said Rick, "Then walk to it, and use the creek here to lead us in our escape."

"Genius Rick," said Chernov, "Let's get started on this mission."

"Gather a team, brief them, then move in tonight," said Rick, "Right?"

"Affirmative."

"Excellent."

"You know what this also mean," said Rick, "Big meal tonight, since it's going to be cold."

"Some spruce tea and granola along with that, the needed energy will keep us awake and warm. Let's recruit a team and get them set up, I plan to be back before midnight and be in bed with my Rachael."

. . .

Large groups of red smurfs line up at the POW Quarters, they stood by and watched as blue smurfs were led out of the building by gunpoint. Among all of his years of knowledge, nothing can prepare Grandpa Smurf from what he was facing. He knew the red smurfs all too well, actually met them during his travels around the world. The old smurf never thought that he would be captured by him, they were so different from the ancient days. Do they still remember him? None of the red smurfs seem to recognize him, in fact he hadn't seen any red smurf who was old yet.

He, along with the smurfs, were arranged in a square formation in the main square of the red smurf's base. The red smurfs seemed to be doing a headcount, Grandpa watch a red smurf go through all of the blue smurfs, checking if everysmurf was present. He hadn't spot Papa Smurf yet, no sign of him anywhere. He stood there among his fellow smurfs, trying in vain to stand without the use of his cane. His hunchback was going to kill him, if Grandpa trips, he might not get back up. Being a thousand years old had took its toll on him, and now it was tightening it's noose.

Grandpa Smurf looked up and saw a massive structure, brilliantly designed. The hammer & sickle was carved neatly in the balcony, which is above solid wooden doors that looked like a castle. On the balcony, he saw a tall authority-looking red smurf approach its edge and rest his hands on the concrete safety rails, two more red smurfs followed behind and stood on both his left and right each. Upon seeing the officer-like red smurf, everysmurf in the base went silent. Grandpa Smurf watched his little grandsmurfs tremble in fear, some of them were trembling in their pajamas. The red smurfs looked either annoyed or angry, maybe they were just grumpy.

"I'm General Adrian Dragovich," said the leader on the balcony, "I'm the Commander of the Red Smurf Army and leader of the entire red smurf race. You may be wondering why you're her. Well first of all, it was easy to infiltrate that Smurf Village of yours. We encountered little difficultly in snatching you up, your defenders were overwhelmed in the attack and were defeated. The reason why you're here is because we're holding you for ransom on the Green Smurf Colony's wealth and technology. It was way too difficult to penetrate the colony, yet getting into your village was no brainer. Once we've established contact with the green smurfs, you'll be informed. Once they agreed to our demands, you'll be freed. If they fail to give in to our demands, then you'll end up like your Papa Smurf."

Many blue smurfs began to mutter, but stopped when Dragovich continued, "During your stay here, you'll be working in our mines. You be wearing protective head-wear and respirators, you'll be mining Gypsum, a sulfate mineral used to make plaster. This plaster in turn will be used for medical purposes. So if you ever break a bone, you can thank yourself for getting the plaster that forms your casts. My fellow subordinates will set you up in the minds in a few moments. But first, one of my senior officers would like to meet one of you, personally."

The wooden doors opened and an old red smurf stepped on through, Grandpa Smurf felt a hand grab his arm and was jolted out of position, he nearly fell but managed to catch his balance. He turned and saw a red smurf pushing him along, saying orders in Russian. Grandpa Smurf didn't understand what he was saying, he safely assumed the red smurf wanted him to get a move on. He was brought to the front of the crowd as all eyes were trained at him, Grandpa watched as the old red smurf approached him awhile being escorted by two red smurf bodyguards.

"Long time no see Grandpa Smurf," said the officer, "What, you don't recognize me?"

All the blue smurfs muttered to themselves, "You know him Grandpa Smurf?" asked one of the blue smurfs.

A red smurf barked at him and Russian, shutting the blue smurf up, "No, I don't recognize you." said Grandpa Smurf.

"I'm Colonel Alexander Izotov, I believe we met long ago. I was a smurfling then, I stood by the Elder Smurf's side as you spoke with him personally."

"Oh now I remember, you were so shy. You wouldn't even say hello to me."

"Which explains why I'm... reluctant to be reintroducing myself to you. Now tell me, did you tell your smurfs about the red smurfs at all. In making contact with them?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, I suppose that if it wasn't for you showing up at my old childhood home in the Ural Mountains, the red smurfs wouldn't even found your Smurf Village. Had that Great Oak Tree finally grew?"

"It did."

"How big is it?"

"Big."

"Hm, seems that you're memories are in order. Even after 500 years, you still have difficulty getting to know the red smurfs. I had to persuade the Elder Smurf to spare you once you had been captured by our armed forces, he had me serve you drinks and everything."

"Yes, you didn't appear to like it."

"It was punishment, of course that's the past. Now the Elder Smurf has past, his own direct descendent had took his place. Ah Adrian, I remembered that time where he went streaking across the red smurf village when he was just a toddler, wearing nothing on but his birthday suit."

"I heard that." said Dragovich through the speakers.

Izotov looked at Dragovich and made a remark in Russian, suddenly all the red smurfs snickered and laughed out loud. Dragovich seemed to be having steam coming out of his ears as a result.

"What did you say?" asked Grandpa Smurf.

Izotov turned towards him and said, "I said what I'd just said to you, few red smurfs knew his past today old timer."

"Izotov," said Dragovich, "Take Grandpa Smurf inside the bunker and deal with him privately. Oh, and bring in the smurflings as well, they will get the same treatment."

"Da." said Izotov.

Dragovich made a final remark in Russian and all the red smurfs began to usher the blue smurfs away. Grandpa Smurf was soon taken inside the massive structure, he didn't look back.

. . .

The Smurflings were taken through the VIP bunker without incident, they wondered what will become of them. The only smurflings who weren't scared were Cherskey and Nelly, they had been kidnapped by the red smurfs once, they knew what to expect. It was predictable that the red smurfs separated the twins from the main group, they took them down a separate hall where they separated the duo. Nelly put up a struggle when they were seperated, but Cherskey kept his cool. He didn't react when his sister was scooped off the floor by a red smurf, she called out his name, but was cut off when she was thrown inside of a cell and the sliding iron door slammed shut on her. Cherskey walked inside the cell across from Nelly's, once inside the door slammed shut behind him.

It was a small concrete room, the only thing inside was a small bright LED which glowed brightly on the ceiling. Cherskey knew he was going to be interrogated, he expect Nelly the same fate. So he sat down against the wall just across the iron door, crossed his legs, and placed both hands on his knees. He shuts his eyes and listened to the environment around him, it was eerie silent, just like the night he last remembered being at the Smurf Village. He didn't knew what really happened, all he knew was that he was captured by this so=called Spetsnaz. Cherskey knew some Russian, which might help him in his "counter-interogation" plan.

A few minutes went by and the door opened, Cherskey's eyes followed suit. He was stupefied to discover his interrogator was a red smurfling, dressed in the usual red smurf conscript uniform. When the iron door slammed shut, Cherskey cracked a smile, "Look at that," he teased, "They're sending in a red smurfling, isn't that adorable."

"Pipe it Reznov," barked the smurfling, his voice sounding squeaky, "I'm here to beat the intel outta you."

"_Вы так мило_."laughed Cherskey. He said _You're so cute_ in Russian.

The red smurfling's eyes flew wide open, this was getting too easy, "How do you know Russian?"

"Does a Russian last name tell you anything genius?"

"A little."

"I bet not."

The red smurfling growled in frustration, "Okay then, let's start with the basics. Where's the-"

Cherskey let out a loud fart, the concrete walls amplified the noise as well as the small, "Oh you gotta be kidding me!" pouted the red smurfling.

"What," said Cherskey, "You're scared."

"No!"

"Well you're grumpy then, like a little brat you are."

"I'm not a brat!"

"Prove it then."

When the foul odor kicked in, the red smurfling turned to the door and began to pound away on it. He screamed in Russian, crying to be released. Eventually the red smurfs in the hall let him out. When the door flew open, the red smurfling collapsed in the middle of the hallway and vomited all over the floor, a red smurf who was standing nearby was disgusted at the smell.

"You got anyone out there more mature?" Cherskey asked in Russian.

The iron door slid shut in response, and Cherskey was alone again. He heard the red smurfling outside was crying heavily, it must be loud since the concrete walls were thick. He smiled to himself, proud that he one this round. Seemed that the psychological tactic had paid off, but it might get more tougher when they start sending in an _adult_ for a change. His thoughts soon shifted to Nelly, natural for a twin to think of the other. He wondered how she was holding up, he kept his fingers crossed and waited. Escape was an impossibility, yet he can torment his captors as much as he can torment him. He loved the game, yet he knew it would soon become unpleasant.

All the red smurf's could do was hold onto him and Nelly until further orders from Dragovich, he doubt that its not going to stop the red smurfs from performing some kind of harm. A part of him thought it was about to become reality.

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	22. Act II: Chapter XXII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXII_

Chernov managed to organize a small band of 4 green smurfs for the covert mission: Rick, Jack, Jammy, and himself. They were equipped with RS-100 w/ ACOG scopes and suppressors, a 0.9 mm pistol secondary weapon, 4 stick grenades, and 4 flashbangs. They were also wearing bulletproof vests and flak jackets, Chernov chose not to wear a flak jacket as his usual jacket was already grenade resistant. He kept his bulletproof vest underneath his jacket, just like everyone else. Chad made sure that they stayed connected to home by manning Rick's HAM radio at the Command Center, he will call the shots at home when ordered to.

He got ready as the vertibird carrying him and his small squad was dropped off in the woods near the creek, they fast-roped off the vertibird and removed their safety harnesses. Chernov gave the pilot a wave and the vertibird flew off within seconds.

"Get in, grab the intel, get out, right?" asked Jammy.

"Yup," said Chernov, "Don't get yourself killed Jammy, extraction for bodies are all but impossible at this moment."

"Comm check." said Rick.

"Copy." said Chad on the radio.

"Okay," said Chernov, "Stay quiet guys, home is quite far and we can't afford to be compromised. I prefer knowing the location of their base the easy way, not the hard way."

"Chernov," said Jack, "If, and only if, we hold onto the element of surprise long enough, can I commandeer some of their liquor?"

"What else pisses them off than stolen vodka? Of course, the booze goes missing. Sure, why not? Just don't take too much though, and please don't grab the bottles already opened."

"10-4."

"Alright half-sibs, let's move out."

Chernov, being the leader, led the squad through the woods. The walk down the frozen creek took awhile, they had to walk beside the creek or else they would slip on it. No telling how sturdy the ice was at this time of the season, they can't risk falling through and become an ice cube for a drink. Chernov looked up at the sky past the limbs of pine trees, the stars were bright and Polaris was in plain view. Good, a speedy getaway will depend on the stars for quick navigation.

After a few more minutes, Chernov crouched and the rest of the squad follows. He can see what appears to be humanoid-made structures from the distance, followed by some sources of artificial light. He sat there for a moment and listened, he heard some faint voices but can't pick up their conversations. He began to crept forward, and the rest of the squad followed. He kept walking until he saw a red smurf conscript walking along the wooden walls of the outpost, Chernov stuck his arm up and had everyone get back, they responded without question.

The red smurf sentry was simply walking about, he appeared tired as he almost drag his SK, Chernov could actually see him yawn as he lean against the wooden wall of the outpost. For as much as he could tell, the red smurf was bored, boredom can get you killed. The sentry took out his flask and pop the cap off, then took a swig of the liquor inside. Chernov lined up his sights at the red smurf and held his breath, he can't afford to miss.

_Click._

The bullet shot right into the red smurf's forehead and he went down immediately, all without giving off much of a sound. The suppressor done its job, now its time to move on. Chernov signaled his squad to push through and pointed at the body, Rick and Jammy moved in and carried the body out of the area. They simply dumped it in the bushes and regrouped with Chernov as he approached the actual gate, he peaked through the open gate and saw few red smurfs stirring about. A couple of them was hanging around a campfire talking to each other, another seemed to had fallen asleep in an outdoor chair.

When he saw the wooden buildings, Chernov was impressed. They appeared well built, it had no unnecessary construction in what not. They were hard to pick up on the recon photo of the spy plane, not to mention the roofs were well covered with snow. He can clearly see that there were three buildings, two small ones and one large 2 story building. There were lights pouring out through their windows, yet they appear faint. Probably the reds were just going to bed. The more red smurfs sleeping and less red smurfs on patrol will increase the squad's chance of success. Though they still had to be careful, red smurfs are known for accidentally shooting each other when spooked from their slumber.

Chernov crept inside and stayed close to the timber wall as his squad follows behind, so far no red smurf caught sight of them yet. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, heck, he didn't know what the Intel looks like. Could be some documents or data on a computer hard drive, he wasn't sure if there were computers here so he's going to expect that there would be some maps and documents for him to salvage. Anything of use is better than nothing, Chernov didn't come all this way for nothing, he must bring back something for Rick to analysis.

He could see clearly that the red smurfs weren't using electricity, just plain old fire torches for lighting. He could also hear a hum coming from the largest building in the outpost. Was that a generator? If it was a generator, then that mean it's powering communications equipment. Chernov hadn't seen an antenna nor communication mass anywhere near the outpost, maybe these red smurfs were separated from the main force or something. He kept a steady pace as his fellow green smurfs keep close to him like birds snuggling their mother, Chernov made a turn towards the large building and soon discovered yet another red smurf came onto the scene.

The red smurf was drunk and had no gun, only a vodka bottle. He seemed to had wondered out of one of the smaller buildings since one of the doors were wide open, the squad watched as the red smurf fell flat on his face, burying part of his head in the white crystal snow. Chernov waited for a moment to see if anyone was coming out to go get him, a moment past and he heard no one coming. So Chernov aimed his RS at the red smurf's head and fired a round into it, then signaled his squad to dispose of the body.

Rick and Jammy simply buried the red smurf in the snow, there was a spot where the snow was a little deep and so it provided the perfect coverup. Once the red smurf was buried, Chernov stuck his head through the door and looked inside. The room looked like somewhat of a half office, half living room. A simple olive couch, a coffee table covered in vodka bottles and magazines, a few filing cabinets here and there, and the red smurf's hammer & sickle flag displayed on the back wall above the couch. A couple of kerosine lanterns were illuminating the room, they weren't providing much light but it was enough to see without any problems. Despite the appearance that a party had taken place, the filing cabinets were promising.

Chernov stepped inside and his squad followed, Jack shuts and locked the door behind him as Chernov began to do a sweep through the building. He discovered a bedroom and a kitchen, both of which were empty. Seeing that the coast was clear, Chernov had the squad shut the blinds on all the windows to avoid being discovered, "Since I'm the only one here that can read Russian," he said, "I'll be searching for Intel, the rest of you either look for anything useful or keep on guard. Remember not to speak at all, any English words will tip off the red smurfs that green smurfs are here without a doubt. So keep it quiet, and don't make much noise either."

"I have a question Chernov." said Rick.

"What's that?"

"How am I going to go through boatloads of Intel that are written in Russian?"

Chernov formed a frown before placing a hand on his temple, "I knew we were forgetting something. Oh f#ck. Well then, I guess we look for maps and pictures then."

"Okay."

Jack and Rick holster their weapons and began to search the place as Jammy had his weapon ready towards the front door. Chernov opened one of the filing cabinets and peered inside, the drawer was packed with vanilla folders filled with documents. He thumbed through the folders, looking for any useful Intel. All he found was daily reports, personal reports, inventory lists, not much of any use at all. He moved on to other cabinets, all he found was more of the same crap. The only photo he found was an S-34 tank, and it looked like it had been subdued by a bear that festered in a stagnant lake for a few days. Chernov closed the cabinet and moved on to the bedroom, there were two bunks, each with a footlocker. Maybe these footlockers contain useful Intel, a map perhaps.

He got to his knees and opened up one of the footlockers, inside was a red smurf uniform neatly folded in squares. Along with that uniform, there was a vodka bottle, a pistol, and a couple of stick grenades. Most of which are useless or unneeded, but the stick grenades might be useful. Chernov grabbed the two stick grenades and shoved them in his back pocket, his instincts already telling him that the state of the mission was soon going to change. Sure enough, he heard knocking at the front door as its knob twist and turn.

Chernov rushed back to the living room and saw Jammy crouched down with his gun pointed at the door as Jack and Rick were pulling out their weapons, "Igor!" blurted a drunken voice from the other side of the door, followed by a little Russian.

The squad didn't say a word as Chernov approach the door and responded back in Russian, after a short conversation the red smurf on the other side sighed, "Da."

Chernov heard footsteps compacting the snow outside as it fades away, along with the red smurf who was grumbling to himself in frustration. "What did you tell him?" whispered Jammy.

"He wanted to know if there's any more vodka," said Chernov, "I told him it's all gone."

"I didn't know they're that gullible." said Jack.

"Alcohol intoxication decreases your judgment tremendously, if the outpost officer stationed here is also drunk then he might provide the Intel we need," Chernov then turn towards Rick, "You found anything?"

"Just rubbish, a few pictures but nothing useful."

"What about you Jack?"

"Just some... magazines that were sitting on the coffee table. Other than that, I found this."

Jack pulled up one of the cushions of the couch, revealing gold coins underneath, "Red smurf pockets don't contain money very well."

"Red smurfs are that greedy. Okay guys, let's move onto the large building. Stay quiet."

Chernov opened the front door and poked his head out, seeing that the coast was clear he signaled the squad to follow as he walked out and head behind the building. They walked carefully, having spent a lot of time inside that cabin had already began to arose suspicion. Chernov wasn't sure, the red smurf conversations nearby were still passive. Their were some laughs and the sound of teasing, but nothing out of the ordinary. Chernov was sure that they were too drunk to even see properly.

He crouched down as he approached the large structure, after peaking around the corner of the smaller building he ran across to the back as the squad followed suit. Chernov approached one of the windows and peaked through it, he saw it was an empty dark room, it appeared to be a kitchen. The window seemed to be designed to open vertically, so he tucked his rifle into his armpit and placed both hands on the glass. The window slid open without a hitch, do these red smurfs ever heard of latches? With the window wide open, Chernov climbed through before helping his squad inside. When they were in the building, Chernov closed the window and shut the blinds.

"Stay close," he said, "We have a good chance on finding what we're looking for here."

"You think a senior official of the Red Smurf Army lives here?" whispered Jammy.

"Maybe a junior official, the youngins always get the tough jobs."

"No sh#t," said Rick, "Old smurfs don't perform as well as the young, nature has to be _so _cruel."

Chernov moved like a ninja into the next room as the squad copies his procedure, the soft soles of their boots seemed to be working on the wooden floor. The main room appeared to have two stair cases, in the middle was the front door. Red smurfs had a habit of keeping their electronic equipment downstairs awhile using the higher floor for leisure purposes. He head into the next room where he found numerous filing cabinets lining up the walls, in the center was a round table with a large map in the center. He approached the table and took a look at the map, and instantly recognized it as the map of the region.

He saw the Green Smurf Colony on one corner of the map, it's borders marked grass green; West of the colony was the Smurf Village, it's borders were marked in light blue. The map was marked with red and green smurf outposts, including the outpost the squad was raiding at the moment. Chernov can see that the red smurfs had more outposts than they had, which was disturbing. There was one area of the map that caught his eye, a huge area marked in red. The area was far bigger than the Colony, or slightly larger. Hard to tell in the near darkness of the room, but it was bright enough for Chernov to read the label printed over it.

"Fort Romanov," he said, "Their base is Fort Romanov, its just north of here. We're right between our base and theirs."

"Where?" asked Rick.

Chernov pointed in a small red area where the surrounding terrain was marked with spruce green, "Here."

"Dang." said Jammy.

"We'll bag this map guys, we'll do further sweeping of this area before wrapping up the operation."

"10-4." said Jack.

Chernov folded up the map and carefully inserted it into his backpack, then the squad began to comb the filing cabinets awhile Jack kept watch. Among all the Intel they had opened up, they found several useful photos in the cabinets. After further searching, they managed to find the blueprints of Fort Romanov in the bottom drawer of a cabinet. After stuffing as much Intel into their backpacks as they can carry, the squad was ready to leave. "Okay squad," said Chernov, "Let's-"

The sound of footsteps coming from outside interupted Chernov, "Find cover!"

The squad got to the sides of the room with weapons drawn as the door to the room opened, a red smurf dressed in a olive green nightgouwn came walking through. He was grumbling madly to himself, Chernov translated the words and discovered the red smurf was a high-ranking official and was assuming that his subordinates were wondering around inside his cabin again. When the red smurf shut the door behind him, he lit a match and placed inside of an oil lantern sitting on a filing cabinet. Realized they will soon become compromised within seconds, Chernov aimed his assault rifle at the red smurf's head and held his middle finger over the trigger.

_Click_.

The suppressed round shot into the red smurf's temple, causing him to stumble back and slammed into some filing cabinets before collapsing onto the ground. One of the filing cabinets had tipped over and crashed on its side, the noise was so painfully loud that it made everyone bite down on their teeth. Almost immediately, the squad heard red smurfs yelling outside. They either found one of the bodies or heard the noise inside the cabin, "Damn it," whispered Chernov, "Our presence had been discovered, through the window!"

Jammy rushed to the nearby window and opened it all the way, a gush of the night's cold air blew into the room as the squad climbed out one by one. Once outside, Chernov shut the window and the squad began to jog down the way they came, when they got around the corner they saw two red smurfs armed with their service weapons examining their fallen comrade Chernov put down earlier. He went fully auto on the two conscripts, blood pepper sprayed the snow as they dropped to the ground. "Weapons free," he said, "Run like hell."

The squad took off running as more red smurfs were alerted, clearly there were more conscripts than previously thought. As they reached the front gate, bullets rang past Chernov's ears. He turned around and saw several red smurfs chasing him, they were clearly drunk but were still in good fighting condition. Chernov quickly took out the stick grenades and pulled their fuses before tossing them, then bolt out of the outpost. When he and his squad were a few meters away, two explosions occurred followed by red smurfs screaming, "Wunderwaffe to Command Center!" called out Chernov into his radio.

"Copy." said Chad.

"Mission accomplished, send in extract team to the drop off zone."

"10-4, vertibird is now on route."

Chernov tucked the radio in his pocket as he and his squad ran through the woods, when they reached the creak they took off running on the side of it. The ice was strong enough to hold their weight thankfully, but in good measure, they spread out to distribute their load. They ran as fast as their feet could take them without looking back, after running for what seemed to be a kilometer they reached the drop zone. There was no vertibird waiting for them however, "Where's that evac!" cried Jammy.

"It should be here any minute now," said Chernov, "We'll have to hold this position until they arrive!"

Without warning, a bullet went through Jack's leg. Causing him to loose balance and tumble onto the ground, "Jack!" cried Rick, "Oh sh#t, sniper! Get down!"

"Behind that rock!" cried Jammy.

Chernov grabbed Jack's arms and drag him towards the large rock. Another round shot past them, slicing the air with lightning speed. A third round embed itself in the ice, just within arms reach of Jack. Just when Chernov managed to get Jack behind the rock, a forth round struck the rock and kicked up a powder of snow into his face. He spat out the snow and cleared the snow out of his nose as he managed to drag Jack out of harms way, then Chernov fell onto his back in exhaustion.

He laid there for a moment panting before sitting upright, Jack managed to sit up and laid back against the rock along with Rick and Jammy. "I thought I was going to get more wounds for sure!" exclaimed Jammy.

"You're alright Jack?" asked Chernov.

"The leg's fine," said Jack, "The bullet went through my pants, it was the prosthetic leg they shot."

"I'm surprised you're able to run with that." said Rick.

"You can thank Gizmo for his limb design," Jack then turned his attention to Chernov, "Thanks for saving my ass back there, I'm still wondering how the hell you convince me for this mission."

"Doesn't hurt to get exercise once in awhile." grinned Chernov.

"Oh very funny, my real leg was ready to cramp up when we were being shot at back there. Speaking of back there, is that sniper gone yet?"

"I'm not sure," said Chernov, "I'm not sticking my head up to take a quick look though."

"I have an idea." said Jammy.

Jammy grabbed a nearby stick and pulled off his smurf hat, he stuck his hat onto the stick and held the stick up in the air where the hat is just over the rock. A bullet came zipping over the rock and shoot through the hat before impacting a spruce tree nearby, Jammy dropped the stick in surprised, "He's still there." he said as he picked his hat out of the snow and stuffed it in his backpack."

"Sniper's got us pinned down," said Chernov, "All we had to do is sit and wait for evac to arrive."

"Would the reds come after us?" asked Rick.

"They're too intoxicated to go that far, but this sniper is obviously sober. Heck, you had to be smart if your job is to take out targets from extremely long range."

"Its getting cold Chernov," said Jammy as he grabbed his biceps, "The adrenaline's wearing off, you think we can make some sort of insulation with this snow?"

"No way to do that with the sniper watching over us like a hawk," said Chernov, "We sit and wait. We move, we die."

The squad sat there for a few minutes as they all began to shiver, Chernov thought of doing Jammy's plan but fought back the idea. There's no way that could happen until they're liable to catch a bullet in the forehead. A few more minutes past, suddenly the sound of a vertibird appeared. It wasn't long before the squad can actually see the vertibird as it came down from the sky, the cargo door opened as smoke grenades were tossed out. When the smoke grenades gone off, the area was soon filled with smoke as the vertibird lands. The squad quickly scrambled onto their feet and they dove right through the door. Once piled inside, a green smurf shuts the door and the vertibird took to the skies again.

"Thought it was a good idea to toss in the smoke grenades," said the green smurf, "Seemed to be a blessing don't you think?"

"Yeah," said Chernov as he and his squad climbs into the seats, "It was."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	23. Act II: Chapter XXIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXIII_

The next day, Chad, Rick, and Chernov went over the Intel collected from last night's mission. Among all the photos and maps they had collected, one map besides the biggest one stood out, "It's marvelous," said Rick, "I never seen anything like it!"

"Indeed," said Chernov, "Not only did we found the location of their base, we also managed to get a hold of it's blueprints."

"They're more sophisticated than I thought," said Chad, "If we study this map long enough, it would be like having a 6th sense when penetrating the base."

Rachael walked into the Command Center and sat down a pot of tea of the table, "So how was the mission last night Chernov," she asked, "You flopped onto the bed last night without saying a word, so it had to be tough."

"It went fine most of the time," said Chernov, "Until we were about to leave where we had a brush with a sniper, Jack got struck in the prosthetic leg so he came out of it unscathed in a sense."

"Thank God, how about you?"

"The night was so cold that I was thinking of being in bed with you most of the time."

Rick laughed, "I understand why."

Rachael grabbed Rick's chair and made it seem like she's going to topple it over, he flailed his limbs in response as he collapsed onto the floor. Chad and Rachael laughed as Rick managed to climb back onto his feet and brush himself off, "Oh very funny." laughed Rick.

The door flied open without warning and Lizzy poked her head through, "Chernov," she said, "Something's wrong with Sally, she seems upset."

"We'll take care of this later guys," said Chernov, "Let's check this out, she's one of our best pilots we had in the air force. Lizzy, lead the way."

"Yes sir!"

Lizzy managed to lead the group down the road and walked across a few GSVs before reaching Sally's spiderhole, Chernov knocked on the door and called her name. No response, so he turned to Lizzy and asked, "Was she fine awhile ago?"

"I'm not sure, but I found her crying."

"To come to think of it," said Chad, "I hadn't seen her ever since the Smurf Village was attacked."

Chernov put the two to two together and figured it out, "I know what's she dealing with." he said as he opened the front door. Inside, they saw Sally laying on her cot in the fetal position. The stove in the back had heated up the place to a pleasant temperature, Chernov saw that the area around the cot was littered with beer bottles. The thought of Dashie came to mind and he instantly realized the road Sally was headed in. "Sally," he asked as he stepped inside, "Sally, you're awake?"

"Yes." she muttered.

Chernov sat down on the cot beside Sally as Chad shuts the door behind him, "Sally," said Chernov as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"They took him Chernov," said Sally, "They took Handy, I never got the chance to tell him-"

"That you love him?" Chernov finished.

Sally looked up at Chernov in surprised, "You knew?"

"I figured it out a few days ago when you took Handy on a tour of the construction site, he almost figured it out when I told him my opinion."

"Uhh..."

"We'll get him back Sal, we'll get them all back. We found the red smurf's base, we know where to hit them hard. You know what, I'll let you bomb the place. How about that?"

"What!"

Sally jumped up out of her cot and sat upright, "What if I accidentally bomb the blue smurfs?"

"You're not going to carpet bomb the entire place, just a small portion of it. Make it vengeance, show them your grief. The smurfs would know it would be you since, heck, who else flies _The Baron Avenger_?"

"When do I start?"

"When you're ready, Chad will set you up." Chernov then turned towards Chad, "Right Chad?"

"Right," he said, "I'll get the bombardiers and prep the stealth bomber for take off."

Chernov returned his attention backed to Sally, "What do you say?"

"Well," said Sally, "It beats staying in bed all day, I'll do it."

Chernov patted her on the back, "Good girl, I know you had some fight in you. Let's go back to the Command Center where I'll show you where to do the bombing run."

"Okay."

**. . .**

Brainy lifted up the pickaxe and struck the cave wall with its head, the wall fractured before depositing some rocks to his feet. It was hard work, his sweat mixed with the dust of the cave, creating a sticky substance he couldn't bare touching. It was also tough to breathe through respirator mask, it felt like an ogre was kissing him to death. Even with the help of the head lamp on his white hard hat, it was still difficult to see the wall's surface since his glasses were covered in the muck. He stopped for a moment and took off his glasses, he used the fabric of his pants and wiped off the dirt before putting it back on. It was only for a brief second, the red smurfs don't tolerate idle works very easily.

His fellow smurfs were busy picking away at the wall, the sound of a hundred picks whacking a way on solid rock awhile its amplified by the long tunnel was deafening to Brainy's ears. They had been doing this since 5:30 this morning, breakfast was the usual: Two loaves of whole wheat bread and some water with a pinch of salt. Before the mining shift starts, the smurfs were pushed through a shower where they were washed clean with luke warm water. Being completely naked in that shower with his friends was embarrasing, especially when he can't see them without glasses.

After the shower, the smurfs were taken to a room where pairs of white pants were given to them, along with hard hats and respirators. The caves were first scanned for flammable and toxic gasses before and after the shift, so there won't be any accidental explosion. During the shift, inspectors sweep by once every 5 minutes to make sure everything was alright. Brainy remembered the poster hanging on the wall at the entrance to the cave saying, "Weaks Smurfs Are Dead Smurfs", written in bolded words. Who in the world made that quote up? No way will it be in Brainy's next Quotations, if it ever comes.

The red smurfs were clearly showing no love for them, even though they were taking some good care of them. Brainy knew one red smurf who grumbles every time when a blue smurf eventually got hurt, a boulder dropped onto Poet Smurf's foot and he wasn't able to walk on it. When they tore off part of his pants to examine it, they saw it was swelled up twice its size awhile turning into a darker color. That red smurf who helped him seemed agitated, continuously mumbling in Russian as he helped take Poet away to the infirmary. Brainy assumed it was death threats or some other hatred, he doesn't understand the Russian language but there was no other reason why he wouldn't use that tone.

After chipping more rocks off the wall, Brainy picked up the rocks and carried them over to the nearby mine cart. The rocks were heavy, his muscles strain in holding the dense clump of matter. He dumped it into the cart before gasping for whatever air his mask allows him. _Smurf this is tough work_, he thought, _Why are we even doing this anyway? Just to keep us-_

An incoming mine cart slammed against the one he had helped filled, causing him to jump. Inertia made the incoming mine cart stopped as the other one continued down the rest of the track, Brainy was able to watch it fade into the dimly lit tunnel before returning back to work. Just as he picked up the pickaxe, he felt a hand touched his shoulder. He turned and saw it was a red smurf, Brainy was about to get a mixture of anger and fear until he saw the red smurf's eyes. It wasn't hatred, it was kindness. Strangely, Brainy knew who it was.

"Sergei?" he asked.

The red smurf gave a nod.

Brainy knew Sergei, but not in person. He saw him when Hefty and Handy brought him into the Green Smurf Colony during the Humanoid Wars. He was depressed, distraught, it was a surprised that Sergei was glad to see him. He knew he wasn't like the other red smurfs, even though he follows order like the others.

"I believe you had been requested by General Dragovich," said Sergei, "He's anxious to meet you, maybe he had read some of your books or something."

"He told you how to speak English?" asked Brainy.

"Da, but I'm still struggling. Come on, we cannot waste anymore time."

"Quick question."

"Say it."

"What is it like here in regular smurfy conditions from your point of view."

Sergei sighed, "Similar to yours."

Brainy dropped the pick and Sergei escorted him down the cave, once he was back at the surface he took off his respirator and hard hat in a trade for the usual smurf hat. Once he he was outside, he couldn't help but take a moment to breathe in the fresh air. Without warning, he felt a sharp blow to the back of his head and he hit the ground hard. He lost consciousness a brief second later.

**. . .**

When Brainy regained conciousness, he couldn't help but wonder what had happened. The sharp pain in the back of his head hurt a lot, but he didn't care at this point. He found himself strapped to a wooden chair, his arms strapped in to the arm rest as his ankles were bonded to the chair's legs. A lot of electrical wiring and metal plates were strewn about everywhere as these boxes with glowing faces were displayed before him. Where in the world was he?

"Hello?" he called out.

No one answered, the small room was maybe sound-proofed. Without warning, all of the TVs came on and Brainy began to hear voices inside his head. They weren't loud, but they weren't quiet either. Upon hearing the voices, Brainy felt lightweight before feeling weightless altogether. The world slowly turned red as Brainy slowly looses coordination in his muscles. It wasn't long before he looses touch with reality altogether.

**. . .**

"I'm not sure about this Dragovich," said Sergei as he watch Brainy from the safety of the observation room, "You sure this is safe?"

"I had done this so many times in the past that I can do this blindfolded." said Dragovich.

"But this is the first time you actually done it on a humanoid, there's no telling what symptoms he might react to."

"You gotta start somewhere Sergei, so why not here? We have the equipment, we have the knowledge, and most importantly, we have the perfect candidate for this."

General Dragovich watched as Brainy sat there in a stupor, his eyes were drooping as he held his head down low. No resistance as Dragovich expected, he'll let the computer take care of the rest. He pressed a button and the shutters came down over the large glass pane, blocking all view of Brainy, "Okay Sergei," said Dragovich, "Let's change the subject, do we have the latest stats from the attack on the Smurf Village?"

"Yes," said Sergei as he looked over the report on a clipboard, "Whoa, 67 deaths and one downed twinblade!"

"What, let me see!"

Sergei handed the clipboard over to Dragovich and looked it over, "Had to be the Wunderwaffe, no one else could cause so much death in a few minutes."

"He had help sir," said Sergei, "His love interest."

"Rachael, that fat blond might had caused half of the casualty rate, just to be fair. She might have a bullet reserved for me, unless Chernov had other intentions in mind."

"There's more news sir. A few days ago, Colonel Nikolai had sent in a squadron of red smurfs to take control of the Smurf River in blue smurf territory. They had encountered a small steamboat called the _Galeo_, it had reportedly been sunk by one of our twinblades. Red smurf witnesses say that the captain had dove into the freezing water before his ship exploded."

"What's the captain's status?"

"We managed to find him 7 hours later just 2 kilometers down river, he was still alive but barely conscious awhile suffering from hypothermia. He was taken in as a POW on the spot."

"They're taking him here?"

"Yes sir."

"Sergei, bring me Colonel Nikolai. I must speak with him personally."

"Right away Comrade General."

Sergei rushed out of the room as Dragovich waited, after a few minutes Sergei returned with Colonel Nikolai. "You need me sir?" he asked.

"You brought in a green smurf into our base alive," said Dragovich, "You must have some plans in store for him or he wouldn't be here."

"Well... I uh..."

"Nikolai?"

"Okay sir, I brought him in because I thought its right."

"Indeed it was, not to mention we now have a green smurf other than the Wunderwaffe Twins to hold for ransom. What's his condition?"

"He's unconscious General, the cold had done him in."

"I want to see him for myself, where is he?"

"At the infirmary, heavily guarded by Spetsnaz."

"Had you seen the green smurf in person?"

"Only for a brief moment sir."

"Well lets see how he's doing, we will have to take this opportunity very seriously if we are to tease out information out of him at the proper moment."

"I wonder how you're going to do that sir when he's in no shape to be interrogated."

"Since he's already been broken down, there isn't much we can do to beat information out of him, let's go."

After calling some Spetsnaz and other security to watch over Brainy, Dragovich, Nikolai, and Sergei got up and head over to the infirmary. It was a bit of a walk, even though it was quite close to the VIP bunker. Fort Romanov was so big that any walk across the main square was like hiking up a mountain, the illusion had taunted many of those who ever set foot on this place. It was so bad that Dragovich had a nightmare of it, he woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Now shoveling all the snow off the massive area of paved concrete, was a torture by itself. Thankfully the red smurfs used the captured blue smurfs to shovel out all that snow, it took awhile but they got the job done. They probably don't wanna do that again, too bad for them.

When they arrived at the infirmary, the conscripts there stood in attention as they all set foot in the main lobby. Oleg was just sitting at the main desk overlooking some daily reports when he saw his cousin stepped towards him, "Where's the POW?" he asked.

"He's in the back," said Oleg, "I'll show you."

Oleg got up and led the small group to the back, after passing down several doors and corridors they approached a door guarded by two Spetsnaz soldiers, "Sir." one of them said as they stood in attention.

"At ease." said General Dragovich.

Oleg opened up the door and revealed the green smurf in question, they all quietly stepped inside as the door was closed behind them, "Here he is coz," said Oleg, "Fresh from the battlefield."

Dragovich saw that the green smurf was in bad shape, his skin appeared slightly wrinkled as his brown hair was horribly messy. His face and arms had some bandages covering them, along with some bruises here and there. A lot of blankets had been placed over him as a breathing tube was placed in his mouth, the green smurf had been through quite a rough time, "I see how he survived the cold," said Dragovich, "This green smurf has some meat on his bones, not exactly muscle, but to me it clearly saved his life."

"He had been out for two or three days," said Oleg, "I wonder when he'll ever wake up."

"He will," said Dragovich, "If he can survive drowning in a freezing river, then he would wake up eventually."

Without warning, the green smurf stirred. When his eyes opened, he looked at the red smurfs but didn't react. Oleg grabbed the breathing tube and pulled it out of the green smurf's throat, once removed the green smurf began to cough for a little bit before taking a deep breath, "You're awake," said General Dragovich, "Good."

"I feel like I had taken a ride in a washing machine," he muttered, "Why do I feel cold?"

"You're in red smurf custody," said Oleg, "We pulled you out of the Smurf River after your boat had been sunk."

"This is so not my day."

Dragovich approached the green smurf and asked, "What's your name green skin?"

"Baldwin," he croaked, "Baldwin Reznov. And who are you?"

"General Adrian Dragovich, leader of the red smurf race. I suppose you'd heard of me."

"I'd never heard of you before."

"You never?"

"No one has, we all assumed the red smurfs were too stubborn for an organized leader or what not. We keep seeing them fighting each other than us, which was a relief to the colony."

Dragovich was surprised, he had contacted the green smurfs once with a letter. How can they never even heard about him? "Hm. Your brethren are right about us, its difficult to control these red smurfs anyway."

"I- I need a glass of water, please..."

Dragovich turned to Sergei, "Get him one Sergei."

"Yes sir."

Sergei left for a little bit and soon returned with a glass of water, when he handed it to Baldwin he pulled out his hand and revealed it was cybernetic, "What happened to your hand?" Sergei asked, trying to suppress his shock.

"It was several months ago," said Baldwin as he took the glass, "During one of the... skirmishes... when the red smurfs attacked the colony. I was a soldier who was part of the defense. I was in the trench with several of my fellow siblings, as we were defending the colony a red smurf thrown a stick grenade into the trench. I grabbed the grenade and tried to throw it back, but it went off in my hand. I was immediately sent to the infirmary where they patch me up, once the fight was over I swore to myself that I will never fight on the ground again, and so I went on with my passion for steamboats."

Baldwin took a sip of the water and sat it aside on the nightstand, "I surprisingly know the red smurf who cost me my hand, what was his name... Kamarov? That's what I heard them say, I'm not quite sure but it doesn't matter now."

"Are you friends with Chernov in anyway?" Dragovich asked.

"Yes, we're close. He set me up with a steamboat and everything, helped me get settled in my new career. I'm part of a series of steamboats assigned to ship cargo to the Smurf Village and back, I get to name my boat you know. Named it after my Uncle-in-Law."

"An Uncle-In-Law?"

"Never knew him personally, Chernov said a few things about him and a cousin that lives under the North Atlantic... near a fault line..."

Baldwin looked up at the ceiling and sighed before returning his gaze at Dragovich, "How did you learn to speak English by the way?"

"It was past on to me from my father, who learned it from Grandpa Smurf. Yes, the very same Grandpa Smurf who lives in the Smurf Village."

"Not surprised, the old smurf doesn't expect this at all. Speaking of the smurfs, what do you want them for?"

"I have plans to trade them for some gold and technology for my red smurfs, I want to talk to the Wunderwaffe personally about it."

"I don't think you'll be able to get through to him, he announced that he's going to war. I knew all of this on the radio, right before I was being shot at by reds."

Baldwin paused for a moment before continuing, "How do you treat your red smurfs and why are they so angry and violent?"

"Its built into them that way," said Dragovich, "The Ural Mountains is very harsh most of the year."

"No wonder you guys left..."

Baldwin passed out and quickly went back to sleep, "He's tired," said Nikolai, "Let him rest before for a little bit, we'll deal with him some other time."

"Okay then," said General Dragovich, "We'll come back tomorrow morning."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	24. Act II: Chapter XXIV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXIV_

It was close to sunset, Sally puts on her bomber jacket and helmet before getting behind the joy stick of _The Baron Avenger_. The _Avenger_ was based off of one of Humanity's most sophisticated bombers. The large model was expensive and requires large maintenance. The special paint that coats the stealth bombers makes up most of the value, continuous bombardment from radio waves will dull the paint so special hangers are required to store these sensitive aircraft. The small scale however was extremely cheap to make, but like its larger cousin the small scale stealth bomber cannot be mass-produced.

The triangular shape of the stealth bomber led to the development of the green smurf's Aurora stealth fighter jet, what makes these planes unique was the material they're made out of: A titanium hull and a solid oak skeleton. It made the planes light and agile, Aurora green smurf pilots say that the planes were so fast that they can outrun bullets. Sally didn't believe it, she had flied an Aurora and had it shot full of holes by the Red Smurf Air Force awhile going top speed. She saw the red smurf's aircraft, they were simple and effective. Yet they used a propeller with a piston engine, not the jet engines the Green Smurf Air Force uses. Which means the green smurfs' aircraft can go higher than the red smurfs' aircraft.

For the most part, Sally will fly somewhere around an altitude of 8,000 meters, just barely skimming the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. At that altitude, air molecules can't hold heat as well. Anything with mass will be expected to be extremely cold, which was why Sally had to wear a bomber jacket. Not only does she had to where a bomber jacket, she had to where a respirator mask that fits over her nose and mouth. The oxygen levels are extremely low in the middle of the atmosphere, asphyxiation will kill a creature faster than the cold. The respirator mask had a hose connected to an oxygen tank in _The Baron Avenger_. It had to be 100% oxygen or they could risk a disease known as "The Bends." Its when the nitrogen in blood goes back to a gas when faced with rapid decompression. A good sign of the bends was mainly joint pain, left untreated will risk Deep Vein Thrombosis, a heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and a stroke.

Before a high altitude bombing run, everyone on board _The Baron Avenger _will had to breath in pure oxygen for a few minutes so they can get all that nitrogen out of their system. If they sharpy increase altitude, they risk The Bends. If they sharply drop towards earth, they would quickly black out from G-LOC, a condition where inertia force the blood out of your brain due to gravitational forces, which induces unconsciousness.

Since Sally was the pilot, she's responsible for the safety of the crew. If anyone got hurt or killed, she will be held accountable. Despite having a good track record, Sally was still nervous when flying the bomber. All they had was stealth, no guns or anything, they're vulnerable from red smurf attacks. Of course they would be escorted and protected by green smurf fighters, but Sally knew well that one day she would be shot down, and that scenario will might as well sign her death certificate along with her crew.

"10 minutes Sal." said Chad on the radio.

"Copy." she responded.

Her co-pilot for today's bombing run would be Jammy, if any luck would come out of this mission it would be through him. Jammy just finished getting settled in as he flipped a few switches on the dashboard, "You're ready?" asked Jammy.

"Yeah," said Sally, "So what are we going to be bombing today?"

"We found the main base of the red smurfs, Fort Romanov. Our job is to perform a precision strike at their storehouse, once that's destroyed they'll be fairly short on supplies and it will make it easier for the upcoming attack. Are you nervous Sally?"

"I'm always nervous when going out on bombing runs."

"I can't blame you, why shouldn't you be nervous. Besides, we hadn't lost one bomber since we started making these things."

"That's reassuring."

The two were silent for a brief moment, until Jammy added, "On second thought, maybe we did loose a bomber."

Sally made her hand into a fist and punched Jammy hard in the arm with it, "Ow!" he yelped as he rubbed the numbed area where Sally hit him, "What was that for!"

"For demoralization."

Jammy cracked a grin, "Is something else rather than making a bombing run on your mind Sally, or you just want to give me more bruises?"

"Um..." Sally paused for a moment before she sighed, "There is something else on my mind Jammy."

"I heard about your affair with Handy, are you hesitant to bomb Fort Romanov in fear of harming him in the process?"

"Yes..."

Sally looked down at her feet, Jammy placed his arm around her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, he a tough old blue smurf. No way he'll die on you."

"From the numerous reassurance I had already received, its the first time I heard something new." Sally looked up at Jammy and let out a smile, "Thanks Jam."

"No problem Sal."

"Okay guys," said flight control, "The tanks all filled up and the bombs had been secured in place. _Baron Avenger_,you have been given the go ahead to take off, over."

"Copy FC," said Sally into the radio, "Starting up the engines."

Sally grabbed the lever between her and Jammy and pushed it forward, they can hear the _Avenger's _jet engines firing up. The green smurf on the ground gestured to Sally to move forward as she pushed the joy stick forward, slowly the stealth bomber moved forward, "Engaging thrusters," said Jammy, "Increasing speed."

The green smurf guiding _The Baron Avenger _along quickly ran out of the way as the stealth bomber began rolling down the runway at a faster pace, it soon became from a dash to a rocket as the aircraft picked up speed. The engines were pumping out thrust as hard as they can safely go, after reaching the appropriate speed Sally pulled back on the stick and the nose of the _Avenger _tilted upward, "And..." she said, "We have velocity."

_The Baron Avenger _shot straight into the air as Sally, Jammy, and the entire crew were pressed into their seat. Sally couldn't help but enjoy the thrill as Jammy got a barf bag out and ready, hoping he doesn't have to use it. Once the forest became a mesh of green fuzz below them, Sally leveled the _Avenger _and reduced the speed until they're at the cruising limit. When all that's done, Sally set the plane on auto-pilot and let's go of the stick and got on the bomber's intercom, "Attention bombardiers," she said, "This is your pilot speaking, we will be arriving at Fort Romanov in little more than an hour. Sit tight and enjoy the ride, thank you."

"Well that's done," she said, "Now we have to wait for 40 minutes before we reach Fort Romanov, I can't believe the red smurf base wasn't that far off to begin with."

"Close to home," said Jammy, "Convenient, but also a little too close for comfort."

"Speaking of comfort, how are the bruises?"

"They're okay, being flung through the air and landing on the ground like a rag doll was a weird experience. I expected to be in a world of hurt, only to find myself in a world of soreness. Soreness and hurt are different types of pain you know, I always wondered how it didn't hurt as it should had."

"You were drunk Jammy, the alcohol calmed you down."

"I also landed in some mud recently drenched by a sprinkle of rain, I don't really know which."

Sally sat up in her seat and looked over the gauges on the dash, "How did you get airborne to begin with anyway?"

"Trebuchet, the siege weapon Gizmo put together one morning... About a month ago I think."

"Oh now I remember, you were the one who was reloading it after each shot."

Jammy smiled, "I had a few too many, so I wasn't shock when I accidentally had my hand wrapped around the sling. I had no time to react when the throwing arm shot me to the moon."

Sally giggled, "I thought I heard you singing awhile airborne."

"I wasn't singing."

"Our sibs said that you were singing the notes of _Korobeiniki_, you made it to the second verse before you landed."

"I swear I wasn't singing."

"Sure... sure..."

Jammy tucked the back aside and took a deep breath, "How's the scars?" he asked.

"Fine," said Sally, "Welding can prove hazardous at times."

"Any new scars to add to your chest?"

"No, I'd been careful this time."

"Itching?"

"A little."

Sally turned her attention back outside, she saw through the windshield that the sun was just about to set. Looks like this was going to be a night bombing run, she would be eager to jump into bed once the bombing run is over. "How much time do we have now?" Sally asked.

"About 30 minutes," said Jammy, "We would be close to the fort once the sun dips below the horizon."

"Let's make this quick then," said Sally, "I'm in no mood to enjoy being in the air and nor am I in the mood for a cold one tonight."

"Speaking of cold, this bomber jacket is straining to keep me warm. I'm feeling chilly for some reason."

"Your seat's heating pad is off."

"Oh," Jammy flipped a switch on the side of his arm rest, "Thank you."

"Your welcome."

**. . .**

Dragovich sat in his office as he goes over some reports over the ammunition supplies. _Sensitive, _he thought, _They're so sensitive about the ammunition. What do they want with all anyway? _

It was already twenty hundred hours, he had a big day tomorrow and needed to get some sleep. He went through some papers, shifting through reports and signing his approval in requests. He caught himself nearly falling asleep already once tonight, he wasn't about to nearly fall asleep a second time. More work had to be done, if he failed to do it then-

Dragovich froze, he sense something was wrong. He sat his pen back in its cup and sat back, he listened for any sound whatsoever. He heard none. He got up from his chair and head straight to the balcony, he opened up the doors and stepped out into the night air. Again, he listened for anything unusual. Still nothing. Was his imagination playing tricks on him, or the threat of the war he started was hitting home? He wasn't sure about the answer, eventually he assumed it was nothing and head back inside. Once he was halfway through the door, something behind him exploded. The blast wave was so powerful that it pushed him forward and onto the floor. Furniture and decorations rattle violently, documents flutter to the floor, utensils tumble over Dragovich's desk and scattered like roaches.

In sheer panic, Dragovich quickly crawled behind his desk and pushed his chair into the wall before crawling beneath it. He heard a thousand lightning strikes happening at once as the smell of gunpowder and smoke filled the air. Something outside, maybe up against the VIP bunker for all Dragovich know, exploded. The blast made the general jump, he hit his head hard against the bottom of the desk and accidentally knocked himself out.

. . .

Papa Smurf felt the vibrations, his eyes shot open as he laid there on his bed. For god know's how long, he had been in solitary confinement since being plucked from his Smurf Village. The red smurfs had moved him from the interrogation room to a concrete cell, it was slightly larger and had more things. It had a bed, a toilet, and a wooden desk and chair. The bed smelled like manure, the toilet looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a month, and the prison food was outright horrible. Papa Smurf had been through a lot in his years, but nothing like this. Being captured by a branch of the smurf species was new to him, his fertile mind was still processing the shock.

He had little contact with the red smurfs at all, only when they came by to deliver his meals. Papa Smurf saw that they trust him, when that metal door opened he saw that no smurf was guarding it. Besides the red smurf who delivers his meals, the vibrations was the first time he had contact with the outside world. Something was going on, he heard red smurfs running down the halls outside. Some of the Russian voices were screaming in terror, others were plain out angry as if they had been rudely waken from sleep. Papa Smurf glanced at the clock on the wall, he still didn't understand it but common sense told him it was the dead of night. He tried to think what could cause the vibrations, but time being alone had gotten to him.

Papa Smurf stared up at the ceiling as he laid there on his bed, listening to the rhythm of the vibrations. Nothing that was built into his memory couldn't decipher it. No matter, he was already starting to loose hope. Not knowing the state of his little smurfs was worse than being totally alone, the vibrations help increase that anxiety. _Great, _Papa Smurf thought,_ More things to worry about, just great._

**. . .**

Baldwin was still weak, maybe even dying. Nikolai and Sergei were still accompanying him, they took turns watching him as he slept. Everyone was dead asleep when they felt and heard the explosions occurring outside. Sergei jumped as Nikolai yawned, "What's going on?" he asked.

"I think we're being attacked!" cried Sergei.

They heard the loud explosions and screams outside, it wasn't too hard to figure out, "We're being bombed!" cried Sergei.

"Calm down," said Nikolai, "Our priority is to watch Baldwin here, nothing else!"

The door opened and Izotov ran through, "It's raining hell outside," he blurted, "Bombs came out of the sky as if they spawned there, I tried contacting Dragovich on the radio but no dice."

"Any clue who's attacking?" asked Sergei.

"No, not a clue at all lad."

Baldwin's eyes shot open, "I know those bombs," he said, "They're packed with TNT, powerful stuff. They're green smurf bombs, no doubt about it."

"How can you be sure?" asked Nikolai.

"Green smurfs design their bombs for precision, so you won't see or hear their bombs blowing up in random places but rather in a confined area."

"Indeed," said Izotov, "The explosions sounded like they're occurring in a specific spot."

"It seems that the green smurfs aren't willing to negotiate, its either that or no one had told them about the ransom yet."

Nikolai turned to Izotov in alarm, "Had we ever sent a diplomat to the Green Smurf Colony."

"No..."

The room went silent as the shockwaves of numerous explosions continue to ripple through the walls, eventually the explosions soon ceased as fast as they arrived.

"Green smurf bombers don't just bomb once," said Baldwin, "They do it for 3 or 4 times before returning home. And they don't strike the same area, any structure that the eye could see is a potential target."

"And so is this infirmary," said Izotov, "Quick, let's get him underground."

"We're not authorized to move him," insisted Nikolai, "We need to get permission from he General."

"Adrian will understand, you and I know him since he was a child! He doesn't jump the gun like the Elder Smurf."

"Okay then, but I want heavy security guarding Baldwin awhile we move him, just to be on the safe side."

"Alright, we'll gather some of the conscripts stationed here and we'll take cover in the tunnels. Note that once we move Baldwin, we _cannot _leave his side."

"There's no way I'm going anywhere anyway guys," said Baldwin, "I'm still f#cked up from the river, do what you have to do."

"Sergei," said Izotov, "Get a weapon and follow me, if the POW barracks split open like an egg then there's a good chance that we may have a revolt on our hands."

"They won't fight," said Baldwin, "Hefty and Handy might, but the rest might not. Any hope lies in their leader, which to them is missing."

"I'm not taking any chances besides moving your ass." said Nikolai.

Baldwin let out a grin, "Hope that I have one to move by dawn, it might be your ticket to a promotion."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	25. Act II: Chapter XXV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXV_

"Target destroyed," said the bombardier on the radio.

"10-4," said Sally, "Circling around for another pass."

Sally turned _The Baron Avenger_ in a wide semi-circle back towards Fort Romanov, it was so frightening for her since she couldn't see in all that blackness, all she was able to see were the glowing instruments on the dashboard. Jammy continuously kept her updated as he reads the landmarks from an infrared scope. The scope was bulky and highly sophisticated, it swings in and out as it was supported on a small pole. A variable zoom-in camera mounted underneath the plane allows Jammy to see the world below in infrared rays. He kept his face glued to it some of the time either when they're not on a bombing run, since they were high enough he can calculate the distance of the bombing run and pinpoint Sally in that direction. The bombardiers aiming and dropping the actual bombs will take care of the rest.

If Jammy was also scared as Sally then he wasn't showing it. He appeared calm, how can he be calm in a situation like this? Sally didn't had the nerve to ask him, this wasn't the best time to be asking personal questions anyway, "10 degrees to the left," said Jammy, "Keep her steady Sal."

"Yes sir." said Sally

"We're coming back up to the fort," said the bombardier from the radio, "Ready for next target Sally."

"The infirmary building."

Since each crew member studied the map of Fort Romanov before the mission, she didn't have to tell the bombardier where it was: Its the rectangular building with the flat roof on the western side of the fort, almost up against the wall.

The POW quarters was quite close to the infirmary. Sally's thoughts quickly shifted to Handy, who was probably suffering from unknown horrors in the prison. If she miss her direction of travel by nearly a few centimeters, she would risk bombing the POW quarters as well as the infirmary. There's no second chances in a bombing run, once done is permanently done.

"Drop elevation by a hundred meters," said Jammy, "Concentrate the range on the building, we're nearly perpendicular to it."

"Yes sir."

Sally made the adjustments, now she dreaded for the two words from the bombardier that will tell her the start of the execution of the 2nd bombing run. She didn't have to wait long.

"Bombs away."

She squeezed the joystick in her hand as she felt the plane jolt slightly higher into the sky. Sally held her breath and waited for the confirmation that the target she picked out was hit, she can't afford to miss.

. . .

The POW quarters was quiet as usual, the smurfs were either sleeping, crying, or hoping for relief. They hadn't felt the vibrations from the first bombing run, the concrete walls of the prison was just too thick and the range was quite far off. But when the 2nd bombing run roared in, the smurfs felt the building shake violently. All the smurfs who were sleeping except Lazy woke up. Instantly they thought of utter terror, they had no idea what was happening but they know it was something big.

Several smurfs such as Handy and Hefty weren't afraid at all, they knew what was going on. They knew the green smurfs had the ability to fly a bomber and execute its targets without being detected, its because they had actually seen one of the bombers themselves, even been inside one. The green smurfs were trying to help them, they couldn't think of anyone else with this kind of technology.

The guards were also puzzled at once going on, one of them peaked out the window and saw a wall of fire before him. Word quickly spreads, and a mass panic rose up. Red smurfs ran in all directions, trying to follow protocols on what to do during an air raid. Some red smurfs panicked and ran down into the mines below the fort to take cover, others simply froze in shock, inert like a statue made of stone.

In the mines, Nikolai, Izotov, and Sergei managed to move Baldwin to the caves. He had to be carried, his weight bogged everyone down as they struggle to get him into the mines. There were some fellow red smurf conscripts taking cover in the mines in sheer panic, the group can see how terrified they were under the dim lighting, "We should be safe here," said Izotov, "We'll come back up to the surface once the attack is over."

"Did anyone brought a radio?" asked Nikolai.

"I did," said Sergei, "Though I doubt it would work down here."

"We have copper wires running through the caves, we should get some reception down here."

"I think I'm going to be sick," muttered Baldwin, "For some reason, my ass itches."

"Well sit on it and suppress it tubby." barked Nikolai.

The group sat Baldwin on a bench and rest for a moment, the constant vibration of the cave walls made everyone thought of potential cave-ins. A red smurf already had second thoughts from going down into the mines and so ran off back towards the surface, "Cowards!" yelled Nikolai, his voice echoing madly in the tight quarters of the mine.

"Had anyone took shelter in a cave before?" asked Sergei.

"I think the blue smurfs had," said Baldwin, "But I hadn't."

"So Baldwin," said Izotov, "How many bombs does the green smurfs' stealth bombers carry?"

Baldwin simply looked at him and said, "More bombs than you have firearms."

. . .

Oleg had braved the bombing that was trying to destroy the red smurf base and made his way into the VIP bunker. He ran down the dust covered halls, passing several confused and terrified red smurf conscripts and officers along the way. He had took cover during the first bombing run and made a break for it when it stopped, he kept running even when the 2nd bombing run came into play. Oleg wasn't so concerned about the bombs nor his own safety, he was more worried of his cousin more than anyone else.

Sergeant Dragovich made his way up the stairs awhile amazingly kept his balance from the constant shaking of the bunker. When he reached the elite level, he ran into General Dragovich's office and found it trashed and devoid of red smurfs, "Comrade General," Oleg cried, "Adrian! Cousin! Where are you!"

Oleg ran behind his cousin's desk and found him underneath it, blood was trickling down his head as he laid knocked out cold on the floor, Sergeant Dragovich pulled General Dragovich out from underneath the desk and attempted to wake him.

"Coz!" he cried, "Wake up!"

"No Izotov," muttered the general, "It wasn't me, it was Joe..."

"I'll get you to safety cox, I promise!"

Oleg hoisted Adrian over his shoulders and ran out of the room and made his way downstairs, along the way he gave orders to red smurfs who were wondering around in a stupor to follow him. They complied without question, clearly they didn't have a plan in mind at all. Once he reached the first floor, Oleg had a train of red smurfs scurrying behind him.

Once downstairs, Colonel Antosha came running up to Oleg panting. "The hell is going on Oleg," he cried, "And what happened to the general."

"The Comrade General hit his head underneath his desk," said Oleg, "We gotta get to safety... and a medic!"

"Follow me." said Antosha.

Colonel Antosha ordered all of the red smurfs in the room to follow him into the basement, it was a tight squeeze when going down the stairwell, it was so tight that no one tripped and fell. Once they reached the basement level, Oleg felt General Dragovich began to regain consciousness. "Oh what happened?" he mumbled, "I feel sore."

Oleg let his cousin down and offered him his shoulder, the general put his hand on his head and saw saw the blood on it, "Now I remember."

"Get him into that room!" ordered Antosha.

Oleg and Antosha escorted General Dragovich into the room and had him sit down on a bench, "We are under attack sir," said Colonel Antosha, "Are you okay?"

"Get me some gauze and I'll might be fine," said the general, "Let me see your radio."

"Yes sir."

Antosha handed General Dragovich his radio as Sergeant Dragovich managed to find the first aid kit, as Oleg wrapped up the wound on Adrian's head he clicked on the radio and spoke into it, "Defense Command," he said, "This is General Adrian Dragovich, do you copy?"

"Copy," said a voice, "What are your orders?"

"Turn the sky into Swiss cheese, use all the AA guns you guys can get a hold of."

"Da da, firing away."

. . .

"Target destroyed," said the bombardier, "Awaiting new target."

"Copy," said Sally, "Turning around for another pass."

Again she made a semi-circle and looped back around towards the fort. Her anxiety had mostly past by now, but she was still scared from the bombing run, still fearling of being shot down. Thankfully, the heating pad that was keeping her butt warm relaxed her tense muscles.

"Okay Sal," said Jammy as he looked through the infrared scope, "15 degrees to the right then keep it straight."

"Yes sir."

Sally made the adjustments and kept _The Baron Avenger _steady, without warning they were greeted by a fireworks display of anti-aircraft fire. Jammy pushed the infrared scope aside and cursed, "Sh*t, get us out of here Sally!"

"Okay!"

And just when she thought the mission would go by smoothly, it became a fight for survival at the blink of an eye. She pulled the joystick towards her and the _Avenger's_ nose tipped upward. Sally was pressed into her seat as the bomber shot high into the sky, that's when warning lights started flashing at random.

"Status report." said Sally.

"The fuel lines are freezing," cried Jammy, "Damn the engineers for not insulating the pipes!"

"Drop the fuel and the waste matter, get rid of most weight based of liquids."

"Roger!"

Jammy pressed the button that ejects the fuel from the gas tank and out into the open air, next he pressed the button that does the same thing to the sewage in the septic tank. Sally felt _The Baron Avenger_ gettting lighter as a mixture of crap and jet fuel rained down to the earth below.

"Stabilize! Stabilize!" cried Jammy.

Sally leveled _The Baron Avenger _to the horizon, the excitement of the action soon wore off for only a brief moment when gunfire erupted again from below. More alarms went off in response, Sally's ears were close to bleeding as she struggled to maintain control of the aircraft awhile processing ship loads of information. She heard a loud bang coming from behind and felt the rush of cold air past her neck. It wasn't the cold from the atmosphere that sent a chill down her spine, it was the realization of one of her worst nightmares becoming reality.

"We're hit!" cried Jammy, "Sh*t, they shot the steering system. We're loosing hydraulic pressure from the wings and rudder, we're loosing control!"

_Oh fuck! _Thought Sally.

"We're going down!" cried Jammy.

"Stop saying the obvious!" insisted Sally.

She activated the intercom system admits the constant shaking and vibrating of the bomber speeding down towards earth, Sally took a deep breath before giving one last order to her long time crew, "Prepare for crash landing! Dump all of the bombs! I repeat, dump every single bomb from this plane! Do it now!"

A light came on in the sea of flashing warning lights on the dashboard told her that the bomb bay doors had opened up. The plane jolt and shook from the lack of steering and sudden lost of weight. When the world started to slow down, Sally thought she was going to die. Maybe Handy would be in a heep of trouble if the red smurfs knew who was piloting the plane, already word of her affair with him has spread. The end was more bitter than it tasted, it seemed that the only miracle that can occur was the bomber crashing far away from Fort Romanov so the red smurfs won't come by to piss on what remains.

The tree line was starting to come into view, Sally had a last ditch idea that might save most of the crew. She reached over to the dashboard and cut the engines, the loud screeching drone of the twin jet engines died out. She tried to stay calm as her inevitable fate came ever closer, she flipped on the intercom and said what she thought were her last words, "Ladies and gentlemen of _The Baron Avenger_, this is the pilot speaking. It has been an honor serving with you guys, may all of you have honor."

"It's nice knowing you Sal," said the bombardier, "If anyone makes it out alive, I promise to bring home those who didn't make it."

"I just realize something." said Jammy.

"What?" asked Sally.

"I'm not wearing brown pants."

Sally took the moment and laugh, the plane soon slammed into the ground and Sally hit her head on the dash. She lost consciousness thereafter.

. . .

Oleg saw something went down, after a few minutes of Fort Romanov's AA guns were blindly firing up in the air, a fireball appeared out of the black sky and went careening down to earth like a meteor. He stood there and watched the object fell to earth until it made impact, when it crashed the fort's air defenses went silent. Seeing that the situation was now over, Oleg heads back into the VIP bunker and meet up with General Dragovich, who was holding an ice pack to his scalp, "UFO was shot down," he said, "Might as well be the thing that attacked us, I suppose."

"We'll investigate the crash site in the morning," said Dragovich, "Right now we need to assess the damage and casualty count of the attack."

The two cousins head outside and surveyed the scene before them, thick gray smoke was towering into the sky, bodies or body parts of red smurfs were lying everywhere, several vehicles were destroyed, and a couple of buildings were on fire. Among the carnage were red smurfs struggling to find medical aid, as one of the buildings destroyed happened to be the infirmary.

"Obliterated," said the general, "Nothing left."

"So what happens now, coz?" asked the sergeant.

"This attack will not be tolerated, I already have some plans to begin the day tomorrow."

"What kind of plans sir?"

"I'll tell you along with everybody else, assessing the casualties will be our first priority before everything else."

"Why not leave the task to me coz? You appear tired as it is."

General Dragovich gave Sergeant Dragovich a look, "You're right, you handle it. It might as well take weeks to sort all this out for all I know. I'll see you tomorrow then, goodnight."

"Night."

The general heads back outside as Oleg ran towards the infirmary, he knew Sergei, Izotov, and Nikolai were there watching Baldwin. He knew they were smart enough to take cover, but he want's to make sure they hadn't perished in the bombing. He searched through the wreckage, looking for any sign of them. Oleg managed to find whats left of Baldwin's room but saw that it was empty, maybe they were in the tunnels where it was safe.

Just as he was leaving the wreckage, he saw the smurfs he was looking for coming out of the doors to the POW quarters, "Comrades," he said as he approached them, "I was looking for you, are you alright?"

"Yeah," said Izotov, "Seeing what's left of the infirmary made it seem that going down into the caves was a good idea after all."

"I guess I owe you one Izotov," said Nikolai, "I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

"Sarge," said Sergei as he struggled to carry Baldwin, "Help me with him!"

Sergeant Dragovich helped Sergei to get Baldwin onto his feet, "Thank you," said Baldwin, "Maybe I would be your ambassador rather than a prisoner afterall."

"I will suggest that to Adrian," said Oleg, "I promise you that."

Baldwin looked at Oleg and smiled, "You seemed to be quite close to him, you seem to be doing a good job at shielding him from corruption."

"Not an easy task boy," said Izotov, "Adrian is just as unpredictable when he was a smurfling, one time he sneaked out of his childhood home one night just to get wasted."

"I was with him," said Sergei, "Once he got drunk, he began to regret sneaking out. He asked me to take him home, and then you caught us red handed when we got there."

"All of you are already red-handed," laughed Baldwin, "What? Its a green smurf joke."

"Are you still feeling okay?" asked Oleg.

"I'm fine, though I'm still a bit beat. The feeling of nearly being killed by one of my own isn't new, I have to deal with it everyday. To an ancient, they are just children in adult form. Its actually literally true, the oldest green smurf is just barely 2 years old."

"So," said Sergei, "Where is he going to stay for tonight?"

"He can stay at my place," said Oleg, "He'll be under supervision of course."

"You sure Spetsnaz will like it?" asked Nikolai.

"They won't, but if Baldwin had a few drinks they might."

"A rule of thumb for all green smurf soldiers," said Baldwin, "Never drink out of a red smurf's alcohol if its opened, a popular belief in the colony was that they're usually had backwash."

"No wonder why the green smurfs always take the unopened bottles of liquor." said Nikolai.

"Okay then," said Oleg, "Help me get Baldwin to my place Sergei, stay with him until I finish taking count of the damage, okay?"

"Yes sir." said Sergei.

****TO BE CONTINUED...******  
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	26. Act II: Chapter XXVI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXVI_

Dawn finally rose once again, as usual General Dragovich was up before everyone else. He was fortunate to see the sun again, the fiery rage was still burning for those who were unfortunate to see morning again. He spend the early morning hours cleaning his office, brushing off all the dust and reorganizing everything as the crudely boarded up windows lets the freezing air inside. Just when he was about finished cleaning, the sun rose and helped warmed up the place. If the Elder Smurf was still alive, Dragovich would ask him what to do. Though hope it seemed was useless, he would have to deal with the situation on his own.

He sat back down on his desk and took out a notepad and pen, Dragovich spent a good 10 minutes scribbling down some goals for the entire day. The general wrote down about 23 goals, he was determined to get them all done before the sun sets again. With the list done, Dragovich pulled out his pistol out of a desk drawer and loaded it. With its ammo clip in place, Dragovich holstered the weapon. Thoughts soon came over the green smurfs who were being held at the fort, Baldwin, Cherskey, and Nelly.

The idea of using a child to interrogate a child had clearly failed, not even an adult can get them to crack. The smurflings were unlike any of those who he had seen in the past. Cherskey was determined to fight till his last breath, though Nelly's soft heart shown that she was more easier to work with. Baldwin was already possessed by his spell, however the fat green smurf proved to know a thing or two about psychology. The entire Red Smurf Army was expecting to hear his speech in retaliation against the bombing last night. With the green smurfs in mind, he knew exactly what to do.

The door to his office swung open and Sergei stepped through, Dragovich's attention shifted towards him in response, "Comrade General," he said, "Morning."

"Morning," said Dragovich nonchalantly, "Slept well?"

"Yeah," said Sergei, "I'm still shaken up from the bombing last night though."

"So am I friend, woke up early and cleaned the place up. Is everything else still wrecked downstairs?"

"The interior of the VIP bunker is still covered with dust, a little vacuuming and dusting should take care of that. Thought there are a few windows blown out, we should have a shipment of replacements next week."

Sergei shut the door behind him and took off his ushanka, "What's on today's schedule?" he asked.

"Damage assessment mostly," said Dragovich as he sat up, "And a speech of course for the subordinates."

"You appointed Oleg for the damage assessment right?"

"Yup, where is he by the way?"

"Not sure, he may be still at the Spetsnaz barracks. Everything seemed quiet today, maybe everybody's sleeping in.

Dragovich snorted, "Quiet it will be no more. Sergei, sound the calling siren. Everyone must show, give them time to get dressed before they stand in formation. That also includes the blue skins, with the exception of their leaders of course."

"Anything else sir?"

"Have Spetsnaz armed and ready, they will be needed for today's announcement."

"Da, Comrade General."

"Oh, and one more thing. Please bring me some fresh bandages, my head wounds are still wet and fresh."

"Will do Dragovich."

**. . .**

The calling siren sounded, Hefty calmly got up from his bunk and stood behind his cell door. The laceration on the back of his head was itching again, he simply ignored it. He had already met his match, he wished not to cause more trouble than he already had. The red smurfs were making him do the hardest and most dangerous work in those mines. He thought a few of the red smurfs actually respect him, though there was no way to confirm it. Hefty knew how to stay alive: Follow orders.

The cell door slid open and an armed red smurf pulled him out, the conscript pushed him down the balcony along with the rest of his fellow smurfs. Despite the rough handling, he did not show resentment. As he walked down the iron balcony with his fellow smurfs, he saw how demoralized they were. They had given up after a week of being captured, Hefty couldn't blame them, they were used to being rescued overnight. The thought that no one was going to save them was glued to their minds than the nozzles of the red smurf's firearms, bolstered by the unknown whereabouts of Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf. Smurfette was thinking they were dead, maybe they were.

Speaking of Smurfette, Hefty saw her being shoved along with the others at the other balcony across the room. Her slippers had been replaced by brown ugly shoes, her dress was torn and covered in Gray ash from the minds. The red smurfs were touching her in places that made Hefty's temper boil to the extremes, seeing her cry through it all would make him wanna hit the roof. He kept his anger under control and tried to ignore the laughs and crummy voices of the red smurfs as they harass Smurfette, this wasn't the time to defend her dignity.

The smurfs were led outside and out into the freezing air where they saw the destruction that took place, Hefty wondered if the green smurfs responsible. If so, then that was both good and bad news. If somesmurf outside of Fort Romanov was trying to break them out, then that would give hope and raise moral among the smurfs. That also means some smurfs will find themselves with broken body parts, Clumsy and a few other smurfs had some injuries sustained awhile working in the mines but a sprained ankle and a broken arm would be nothing compared to intentional injury. Hefty know this all to well.

They all stood in formation as they had about a hundred guns trained at them, unlike last time where General Dragovich was standing on his king-like balcony, he was standing before then. Izotov looked nervous, and Sergei looked like he was ready to cry. The Spetsnaz commander who was standing near the general was also having the same emotions. Behind the high-ranking officials was Spetsnaz, guarding them awhile armed with the best toys imaginable. Whatever was happening, this isn't going to be good.

"Look around," said General Dragovich, "See what happened last night. This is the work from the green smurfs, they had bombed this place and _risk_ bombing you all too. In retaliation to this attack, we have brought here some green smurfs we had taken prisoner either with you or later on in the war."

Dragovich stepped aside as a Spetsnaz conscript dragged a fat green smurf before them, he pushed the green smurf to the ground and stepped back. He was coughing and was struggling to get back onto his feet until the Spetsnaz conscript slammed the butt of his rifle into the green smurf's shoulder, forcing him to stay down. Hefty saw the green smurf's left hand, his heart sank.

_Baldwin_, he thought, _How did you smurf up here?_

"You gotta be serious Dragovich," said the Spetsnaz commander, "He could be-"

"Not another word from you Oleg," said Dragovich, "He's the enemy and he would be treated as such."

"Y- Yes sir."

Baldwin looked up at the smurfs, Hefty saw he had a black eye and some bruises on his cheek. Whatever they had did to him was to soften him up, for the inevitable. Dragovich stepped behind Baldwin and grabbed him in the neck, "Any last words green skin?" he asked.

"Have mercy." he croaked.

Dragovich thrust Baldwin towards the ground and pulled out his pistol, Hefty jumped when the general put a bullet into the back of his head. The sound of the gunshot rang out through the air throughout the silent field of smurfs, Dragovich holstered his pistol and turned towards the rest of the Spetsnaz, "Get into formation," he ordered, "Bring out the twins!"

"NO!" cried out Smurfette.

Without warning a red smurf came up from behind and grabbed a hold of her, she screamed and cried as she was dragged away back inside the POW Quarters. All the smurfs could do nothing but watch their friend was dragged off back into the hell they all recently came out of. Hefty felt the fire in him fueling, when the time comes to leave he will make sure that the red smurfs will pay for what they had done.

**. . .**

Cherskey heard the door opened and woke up, before he knew it a red hand grabbed him and pulled him up to his feet, "Move boy." snarled the red smurf guard.

He said nothing as he was escorted out into the hall, Cherskey was relieved when he saw Nelly was being escorted out of her cell as well. She was crying, she had given up. Cherskey don't blame her for it, he knew he wasn't going to see their parents again, "Cherskey," she asked, "What's going on?"

"What does it look like is going on," he said, "We're being disposed of."

"You gotta plan?"

"I'm working on it."

A sharp jab in the back caused Cherskey to stagger forward, he managed to maintain his balance from the blow, "No talk!" barked the red smurf, "Keep walking!"

"Yes sir." Cherskey said in Russian.

Already he saw Nelly's morale rose up, but just a little. She's going to need it for what's to come. After days without contact from her, her strength returned from only being with Cherskey again. He clearly saw that she lost some weight, similar to his own weight loss. A diet of hardtack and water had done them both in. Her overalls appeared to be a bit loose, she's lucky she had no problem keeping them on, Cherskey was having a hard time keeping his pants off. Thank God for his useless stub of a smurf tail.

After walking up some stairs, the twins were taken out the front doors and into the open air. Cherskey was relieved to see the sun again, it rose his spirits up, "We don't have much time bro." whispered Nelly.

"Just follow my lead." he whispered back.

"No talk!" snapped one of the red smurf escort as he slapped the back of his head, "Walk!"

Cherksey said nothing in response. Amidst the destruction before him was the blue smurfs, forced to stand in a square formation as Dragovich and his red smurfs had eyes trained at him. A squad of 7 Spetsnaz conscripts were lined up before a concrete wall of one of the fort's bunkers, the wall had holes and cracks through it, along with some brown stains that was smeared and splattered onto its surface from the distant past. It doesn't take a genius to figure it all out, the red smurfs were going to executed them via firing squad. He quickly looked around and saw a small alley way next to the wall of holes, behind that was a breech through the fort's defending walls. That might be of use.

The red smurfs positioned them before the wall and had them face their executioners, they had their weapons positioned straight up against their shoulders, awaiting those dreadful orders to rip him and Nelly apart. Cherskey couldn't help but let out a grin and faced Dragovich, "After all those days of interrogation," he called out, "You're just going to throw away vital knowledge to defeat your enemy?"

"You probably have nothing on you that has any value," said General Dragovich, "So its best to get rid of you guys as soon as possible."

"Sounds like the words of a desperate smurfs, has that head injury ruined your judgment Comrade General?"

Dragovich's expression changed to a frown, guess he never thought of Cherskey spotting the head bandages from underneath his hat, "Since you shot down that bomber last night, the green smurfs will throw everything they got at you. More bombers, fighters, and tanks to deal with."

"How did you know that we shot down a bomber?" he asked, sounding agitated.

"I know what a dying machine sounds like, they have a distinct rhythm to them, and I felt it all the way in your modern dungeon of yours."

"Enough of this. Prepare to execute them comrades."

"I will not wear a blind fold," blurted out Nelly, "I rather stare at death in the eye rather than blackness!"

"Nice move sis." whispered Cherskey, then he called out, "I have the same request."

"Suit yourselves," said Dragovich, he then turned towards the firing squad, "Spetsnaz ready!"

The firing squad placed their right hand on their weapons.

"Remember," whispered Cherskey, "Follow my lead."

"Right." whispered Nelly.

"Aim!"

The Spetsnaz pointed their weapons dead on at the twins, Cherskey felt some sweat pouring down his neck in response. He saw his fellow blue smurfs taking off their hats and putting it to their hearts, _Smart move for the drama._ He thought.

He turned back towards the firing squad and stood his ground, this was going to hurt.

"Fire!"

**. . .**

Dragovich watched as the Spetsnaz fired their weapons in unison at the Wunderwaffe twins, most of the rounds missed but a few managed to strike Cherskey in the shoulder and Nelly in the gut. Strangely the round failed to penetrate through Nelly's overalls, yet it seemed that it wasn't enough to save her. Both twins went down instantly, they collapsed onto their backs and laid motionless as the smoke from several weapons clears up. Dragovich hears the blue smurfs muttering to themselves, they may had enough torture already.

"Confirm the kills." ordered Dragovich.

"Will do." said a Spetsnaz conscript.

The conscript approached the twin's bodies with his SK-47 out and ready, he hovered over them and nudged Cherskey with his foot. The green smurfling didn't respond. The Spetsnaz conscript turned and faced the crowd of his brethren, "They're-"

It happened so fast that Dragovich had trouble believing it with his own eyes, Cherskey had got up and leaped onto the soldier's back and used all of his strength to control the assault rifle, still in the grasp of the conscript's own hand. Dragovich and his fellow officers stepped back as Cherskey started firing away at the firing squad. Even though they had no orders to fire back, they returned fire anyway despite the fact that Cherskey was using a smurf shield of one of their own. One by one several Spetsnaz soldiers dropped like flies as Cherskey unloaded the clip upon them, by the time the gun goes dry 2 out of 7 Spetsnaz conscripts were left standing.

The smurf shield that Cherskey used was riddled with holes and soon dropped to the ground, choking from his own blood. He grabbed the ammunition clips off of the dead red smurf as his sister struggled to get onto her feet, within a few seconds Cherskey had reloaded and aimed the weapon at Dragovich. He instinctively went for his pistol but was soon shot in face, the bullet grazed his cheek as the shock spun him around and knocked him off balance. Surprised that none of his soldiers were firing at Cherskey, he was soon filled with rage, "What are you standing there for!" he roared, "Open fire!"

Any red smurf with a gun and was within proximity of the twins aimed and opened fire, but by the time they were firing away Cherskey and Nelly were already making a break with it. The spray of bullets intended for them missed them entirely, Dragovich had his officers spread out as he pulled out his rifle. Taking careful aim at Nelly, he fired a couple of rounds into her leg. Both shots were a direct hit, yet they impossibly failed to penetrate her clothing. The rounds did however, succeeded in causing injury. Nelly was hobbling towards her brother at the mouth of a small alley as he return shots at the red smurfs, once she was within reach Cherskey grabbed her and shoved her into the alleyway. He fired a few more sporadic rounds at the red smurfs before retreating into the alley.

Dragovich wondered why they ran down there until he saw the massive breech of the fort's wall behind the alley, he can't believe he hadn't caught it earlier, "They're getting away!" cried Nikolai.

"Bring out the snipers!" ordered Dragovich as he put a hand on his flesh wound, "Sergei, I think I'm going to need more bandages... Sergei?"

Dragovich turned and saw standing their in shock, his eyes were big as his jaw was twitching slightly. Izotov grabbed a hold of Sergei's shoulders and gave him a hard shaking, "Sergei!" he cried, "Sergei Makarov! Get it together soldier!"

Sergei reclaimed his senses and shot a frightened look at Izotov, "What happened?" he asked.

"Two of the prisoners escaping Sergei," said Dragovich, "Now we're hunting them down."

Izotov lets go of him and turned towards Dragovich, his eyes were flaring with anger, "I don't know what you're planning Adrian, but to the looks of it the situation is definitely out of control!"

"I already know that Colonel, can we argue about this later!"

"Fine, but whatever you had just starting up I no longer wanna be a part of it!" Izotov pointed a finger at General Dragovich's chest, "Note that this is _your_ war, not mine, not the red smurfs, just you. Even if you win, you still have hell to pay!"

Izotov stormed off back towards the VIP bunker, leaving Dragovich staring at the place where his elder had once stood. He snapped out of his delirium and turned to Nikolai, "Take all the blue skins back to their cells, give them no food or water for the entire day."

"Yes sir." said Nikolai.

Nikolai heads off to execute the orders as Dragovich then turned to Oleg, "Take Spetsnaz and have them explore what's left of the bomber shot down last night. Awhile doing that, have some regiments comb every part of the forest outside of Fort Romanov in search for either the Wunderwaffe twins or survivors from that downed bomber."

"Yes sir," said Oleg, "Quick question."

"Say it."

"How long sir?"

"Until noon, but I like you back before dusk."

"Da sir."

Oleg rounds up some soldiers and heads off before Dragovich turned to Sergei, "Come with me Sergei," he said, "There are some things I need to get straightened out."

"You're bleeding sir."

"I know, I'll take care of that once I find the First Aid Kit."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	27. Act II: Chapter XXVII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXVII_

It felt like a dream, but it was all real. Every part of Sally's being was in a world of hurt, much more worse than a burn from flying slag from a welding machine or a bullet penetrating her skin. She had been lucky, _The Baron Avenger_ came down on an angle gentle enough where the nose and cockpit didn't completely pancaked into the Earth. The bombs and jet fuel that had been removed from the bomb bay and tank reduced the potential damaged and saved most of the crew's lives... yet it wasn't enough to save all of them.

Sally opened her eyes and found herself lying on the ground in a patch of thick white snow, the sky was white as it is bright, surrounding her was a sea of twisted metal and burned debris. She looked around and saw the cockpit wedged on top of a small elevation, the seats were torn out and tossed aside like toys yet most of the equipment was still there, some unscathed. She wasn't to sure what happened after she blacked out and woke up, nor was she sure about the whereabouts of the crew. Since they were deep inside enemy territory, there was no way on Earth that there would be a rescue mission to save the survivors.

She sat up and staggered onto her feet, the fibers supporting her bipedal limbs cry for mercy. Clouded by a cobweb of tiredness and hunger, Sally was willing to go on, either with or without a crew member. The thought of Jammy soon crossed her mind, she wanted to scream out his name but fought the thought back, the red smurfs could be out looking for green smurfs to kill and scrap metal to recycle.

With not a moment to loose, Sally began to search the wreckage for her comrades. Amidst the destruction she found bodies of the _Avenger's_ crew. Half buried in snow and covered in grease and blood, they lay mangled, broken, and mutilated. It was a horrifying sight for Sally in seeing her brothers and sisters lay dead, the only thing that seemed to matter was somebody that had survived the crash would tell the tale of what happened. That way they wouldn't be forgotten. After searching the entire wreckage for a few minutes, Sally returned to the remains of the cockpit and saw a small pile of snow stir. At first she nearly jumped, but when she saw a head of a green smurf poked out of it she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Sal?" said the green smurf, "Good lord girl, you look like hammered sh#t."

"Jammy!" she cried as she rushed over to her co-pilot.

Jammy stood up and shook off the white powder of snow, a second later he found himself in the grasp of Sally's loving arms, "Are you okay Jam?" she asked.

"It felt strangely comfortable in the snow," he said, "Though my spine felt like it had been snapped in half and soldered back on, I'm otherwise alright, just more bruises for my growing collection on my skin. I have to thank these bomber jackets for keeping us warm, they worth their weight in gold in cold weather."

"Thank God you're alright, I thought I would never even find you."

"The cockpit is the strongest part of the plane, of course I would be alright. The crew I bet was not so fortunate. Damn, to the looks of this destruction it seemed that nobody was spared besides us."

"He have to get back home, before the-"

A shot rang out through the air, making Sally squeal in a high tone. Jammy viciously hush at her, "This is enemy territory, don't be stupid! Come on, let's see who fired that shot."

Sally and Jammy made their way towards the source, as they get closer they began to hear voices. The distinct sound of Russian words told them that they were red smurfs, so when they poke their heads over a large section of _The Baron Avenger's_ wing they saw two red smurfs rummaging through the debris of their wrecked plane. Sally saw a jeep within the distance, the automobile seemed to be a ticket back to home. She nudged Jammy and pointed at the jeep, he took a look and gave her a nod. These reds would have to be taken care of though.

As the red smurfs were rummaging around through the debris, one of the green smurf bodies stirred. A green smurfette with short black hair moaned, one of the red smurfs noticed and made a wicked grin. He told his comrade about what he spotted and they both quickly went after her, the green smurfette quickly got to her feet and attacked one of the red smurfs with her hands. The red smurf soon got angry and hit her hard in the forehead with the butt of his rifle, the two red smurfs began their merciless pummeling of the green smurf. The incentive was all that Sally and Jammy needed for their ticket out of here.

Sally and Jammy quickly got down from the wing and grabbed some pipes sticking out of the snow, "You take the one on the right," said Jammy, "We'll knock them out cold."

"Do it fast," said Sally, "Lori isn't going to take much more abuse any longer."

The two green smurfs came around the corner and sneaked towards the red smurfs with melee weapons in hand, it was hard to listen to Lori's crying, but it was enough to urge them on. Before the red smurfs even knew it, the two green smurfs whacked their skulls at the same time and they both went down with one blow. With the threat neutralized, Sally and Jammy dropped the pipes and rushed over to their comrades aid, "Are you okay Lori?" Sally asked as she helped her up.

"They're horrible," sobbed Lori as Sally wipes away the tears off of her bruised face with a handkerchief, "I can't believe I survived the crash only to become a slut for a red!"

"Testosterone corrupts," said Jammy, "Natural in nature."

"A little too natural if you ask me," said Lori, "Let's get outta here before more of them show up!"

"We can take their jeep. If there are more red smurfs, we'll use these weapons."

Jammy picked up the SK-47s from the unconscious red smurfs and handed one of them to Sally, "Hurry, we must not waste anymore time."

"We gotta look for more survivors!" cried Lori.

"We don't have the luxury of time Lori," said Sally, "If anyone survived, they had to fend for themselves."

Jammy and Sally ran towards the jeep as Lori catches up from behind, Sally got behind the wheel of the jeep as Jammy got into the passenger seat. Lori got behind the 2 mm machine gun in the back and cocked the gun, "This is quite simple," said Lori, "I never thought I would ever get behind a red smurf gun."

"Never thought I would drive on either," said Sally, "I wished it was one of their helos. Oh look at that, ignition system is a simple push button like our smurfvees. Maybe the steering isn't as bad either."

Sally pressed the ignition button and the engine roared to life, "Here goes nothing," said Sally as she shift the gear to drive, "Pray that we aren't fired upon by our own."

"I pray we won't crash again," said Jammy, "I past bruises are feeling sore again."

"And my scars are itching, you don't see me complaining about it."

"That's because you got them treated."

"Eh, whatever Jam."

Sally pressed her foot down on the clutch and the jeep shot forward, it was more powerful than she had anticipated but it was good enough to get through the rough terrain. The green smurfs soon drove off from the wreckage of _The Baron Avenger_, leaving whoever that had survived on their own."

**. . .**

Suicide as it was, the twins made it out nonetheless. Cherskey struggled to carry Nelly as her arm was wrapped around his shoulders, pushing through the blanket of snow was hard enough but nearly impossible when helping someone along. The twins managed to get a large distance between them and Fort Romanov, with no idea which direction was home the duo decided to make a temporary shelter to stay in for now. They managed to find a small cave at a small rock formation, using their remaining strength the twins hobbled over the mouth of the cave and collapsed.

"Damn reds got me in the shoulder," said Cherskey, "Where did they hit you Nelly?"

"In the belly," said Nelly, "And the leg."

"Which one?"

"The left."

"Pull off your overalls, let me take a look at your belly."

Nelly agreed without question she slid off the straps and pulled her overalls down to her waist, Cherskey sat up and saw there was a big purple bruise smack center of her gut. Her clothes managed to stop the bullet, but its' inertia left its mark. Cherskey got worried at the sight of the bruise, "Are you feeling dizzy?" he asked.

"No." said Nelly.

"Good, cause that would be a sign of internal bleeding. You'll live."

Nelly pulled her overalls back on and laid her back up against the rock wall, "My leg," said Nelly, "It hurts."

Cherskey placed a hand on Nelly's left leg and she yelped, "Broken tibia," he said, "How the hell did that happened?"

"I was shot."

"Must be a calcium deficiency then, we gotta get back home."

"But which way _is _home Cherskey?"

"I have no idea, I don't know this land so there's no telling if there's any friendlies that can help us."

Nelly pointed a finger at Cherskey's shoulder, "You're bleeding."

Cherskey looked at his shoulder and saw a bullet wound on it, he took his fingers and stuck it into the wound and managed to pull out the bullet. He chucked it aside as garbage and sat up against the wall with Nelly, "Remember telling Dad about us wanting to go on an adventure?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Nelly, "It was right before bed."

"Well our wish is granted, and we best live it up as it lasts."

"Looks like its more of an odyssey rather than a regular adventure."

"You read Homer's book?"

"Yeah, did you?"

"Yup."

The two sat there in silence as they stared at the cave wall, Cherskey realized the predicament he and his sister was in. With no clue where was home and the enemy probably hot on their heels, the odds were against them. It was still hard to believe that he went to sleep in the Smurf Village and woke up in a cell of a POW camp, if he and his sis were older the red smurfs would make slaves out of them. Maybe that was what's happening to the blue smurfs, slavery. It would be a matter of time before they don't get the basic needs they need to live, soon they would get sick and they would get shot, since sick smurfs are dead smurfs to them.

Speaking of illnesses, the wound might get infected. If that happens, he'll might risk loosing his arm. Or worse, septic shock. If only he had-

"Cherskey!" cried Nelly, "Look!"

Nelly was pointing to his shoulder, he looked at the wound and was surprised to see it shrink. It got smaller and smaller until finally the wound sealed itself up without leaving a scar behind, Cherskey felt his heart trying to explode from seeing this, "Holy crap," he said, "I guess being the children of the Wunderwaffe paid off, huh?"

"I forgot about our regeneration abilities," said Nelly, "Its almost as if it was magic."

"Genetics, Dad calls it genetics. Let me see your leg, maybe it too will heal."

"Okay."

Cherskey examines Nelly's leg, sure enough Nelly didn't yelp a second time when he put pressure on it. But he felt something wrong with it, it felt it was in the wrong position, "Its healed," he said, "But there's a problem."

"What's wrong?" asked Nelly.

"It healed in the wrong position. It's crooked, I have to rebreak it."

"Do what you have to do, please make it quick."

Cherskey shrugged, "Okay then."

He grabbed a nearby piece of stone that was sitting at the edge of the cave's entrance and smashed it against Nelly's leg without warning, she tried not to scream when she heard a loud snap crackling through her ears. With the tibia rebroken, Cherskey properly aligns both ends and kicked the rock aside, "All done," he said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." said Nelly as a tear escaped from her eye.

"There there," said Cherskey as he wrapped an arm around Nelly's shoulders, "I got your back."

"I want Mama," she whined, "I want Daddy."

"We'll find our parents for sure, but its unlikely that they'll find us. Tell you what, we'll stay in the cave until your leg heals then we move on out for a new hiding place. Okay?"

"Sure bro. Just... just don't leave me alone out here."

"I won't, I would die before I let that happen."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

**. . .**

General Dragovich managed to get some bandages for his flesh wound and some vodka for his stomach, he had Sergei sat down in the lobby next to the brick fireplace at the VIP bunker. He had Sergei drink some barley and gave him some hard tack, once he was all settled he was ready to talk.

"So what happened back there Sergei," asked Dragovich, "You stood there non-responsive, why was that?"

"I don't know," said Sergei, "Seeing the Wunderwaffe twins get shocked locked me up, I felt disturbed Dragovich."

Dragovich sighed, "It had been awhile since the last time you'd been into combat, hadn't it?"

"Yeah, it had been. I'm not ready for this war sir, I can't handle the carnage."

"Did you sleep last night?"

"Barely sir."

"How about this, take a break for the day. Go to your bedroom, read a couple of books, and have yourself a nice nap. You earned it."

"Thanks sir."

"No problem."

Sergei finished the rest of his barley and got up from his chair, he heads out the door tossing his empty barley bottle in the trash as he go. As he walked down the hall, he can't help but feeling he was trapped in a tight corner, being wedged in by a bulldozer. His world seemed to be turning against him, his own emotions was the first to betray him. Sergei hoped that wasn't true.

He walked up the stairs and made it back into the elite floor, he head back into his bedroom and slumped on his bed exhausted. Sergei tried to concentrate, yes, he remembered it now. It was deep in the Ural Mountains, he grew up trying to survive against predators like bears and hawks. The winters were bitter and cold, the summers were as hot as they came. Endless rock formations in all directions and pine forests just as inhospitable as the mountains themselves. Its a wonder the red smurfs can survive here, let alone have a long lifespan.

Spending the childhood being picked on and almost beaten up by his peers, he would had suffered if Dragovich hadn't backed him up. Sergei knew Adrian was way different from his childhood and his adulthood. When he was a smurfling, he was kind and easygoing. It was a few years after they became adults when things turned south, the Elder Smurf became ill and sure enough he died in his sleep one night. Sergei was quick to see the change in Dragovich more than anyone else, when power combined with the heavy loss of his father touched his heart.

He became more malevolent against the subordinates once he became "General", back then his peers were no different from now, stubborn, violent, and unforgiving, making it easy for them to defect. Defection of course was a crime against the red smurf society, it was a death sentence with no exceptions. When Dragovich gave him a high position, Sergei saw the corruption that took over his friend, he agreed without showing his reluctance to him.

It was when conditions at home became hostile and it was time to move out of their ancient homeland. The move was unprecedented, risky as hell. Sergei wondered how in the world Dragovich convinced him to come along, since many red smurfs want to say. Heck, mainly the old red smurfs that is. Sergei wanted a better life anyway, maybe that's why he agreed to come in promise of wealth and technology. Being a nerd he was, his craving for books pushed him along.

Without warning, the door popped open and Sergei shot straight up, "Oh," he said, "Its only you Comrade Izotov."

"Hey Sergei," said Izotov, "I'm checking if you're alright."

"I'm fine now."

"What happened back there, why did you freeze?"

Sergei sighed as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, "He had those smurflings shot, I couldn't take the shock. Even though they got away, I didn't notice since I wasn't paying attention."

"How is Dragovich?"

"Worried, you stirred something in his mind alright. May I ask why you yelled at him as you did?"

"Hm. Adrian clearly had kicked the hornet's nest and he hadn't kept his promises. He's becoming a tyrant, he wasn't like this before the Elder Smurf's death."

"I think he's keeping something a secret, something so personal that it may damage his career and relationships."

"Why do you say that?"

"The bodies outside, he left them where they'd dropped. In the recent past, we had massive casualties in fights against the green smurfs. When a large chunk of the red smurfs die out, Dragovich seemed to bring more in. This had been going on since last year, where does he get all these red smurfs?"

"I assumed he brought them over."

"I hadn't heard of anymore bases besides Fort Romanov, we are far from home and on our own. There's no way we can call for reinforcements, its too damn far. Dragovich insisted this was the only red smurf base here in Belgium, I find it hard to believe you know."

"Well we do get our supplies back at home, maybe he brought some red smurfs along that way."

"He brings in hundreds on several dozen transport trucks. Get this, there's _no _supply trucks in that convoy at all. You find that suspicious?"

"I think you're on to something there. In fact, I did see Adrian talk to Oleg heavily every time we get much needed reinforcements. Spetsnaz is responsible for getting in the reinforcements. Its best not to confront General Dragovich with these questions, but maybe Sergeant Dragovich instead."

Sergei stood up and approach Izotov, "So how do we talk to him about it?"

"Well," said Izotov, "Oleg has a habit of having _loose lips_ when intoxicated, since he also has a habit of drinking a lot. That _may_ be in our favor."

Sergei managed to piece together Izotov's plan, he nearly laughed as a result, "Awful, yet effective. I love it."

"Tonight, we'll do it tonight."

"Got it."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	28. Act II: Chapter XXVIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXVIII_

Chernov had waited all night and this morning, _The Baron Avenger _never returned home. This can only mean one thing, it was shot down. He went into the Command Center and saw Rick fiddling around with his radio, he appeared bored out of his mind. He made a slight glance at Chernov and sighed, "It never returned, _The Baron Avenger _never returned. I stayed up half the night trying to contact Sally but all I got was dead air, I think I'm going to be sick."

"She knew what she signed up for," said Chernov, "I had already called for spy planes to look over the area, we should get the recon photos in an hour or two."

"What do you want to do in the meantime?"

"Mobilize the army, we'll get them ready for the attack on Fort Romanov. I have to thank Chad for boosting up the army's fighting ability to an impressive level, I hope it would be enough."

"Even with the best crafted plan the green smurf elite could ever produce, the casualties are a big problem. I mean, look at our sensitive population. We can't afford to loose a large portion of our population, we would fail as a species when that happens."

"Then lets focus on protecting them with some armor and more training, even better tanks for once. Is there anything needed to be done for today?"

"Chad wants you to check out his innovations, he needs your approval you know."

"Okay then, I'll see you around sixteen-hundred hours then."

"K, bye."

"Bye."

Chernov leaves the Command Center as fast as he came in, seeing how tired Rick was told him that he needs both motivation and rest. He couldn't take anymore bad news for one week. Now to get that job done with Chad, he must have something good in store for the upcoming operation.

**. . .**

Chad took a few shots with his rifle and managed to hit the target 5 times dead center, the ACOG was working like a charm and his siblings were impressed by the accuracy and range. It seemed that a rifle, shotgun, assault rifle, and light machine gun was more effective with the ACOG than he previously thought. Despite the positive ratings, some green smurfs didn't like the actual sights in the ACOG. Chad didn't blame them, he didn't like the sights either.

As a result, Chad had invested his time in researching laser technology and invented a red dot sight and a reflex sight. The red dot sights were rectangular and took up a lot of space as the reflex sights were round and focuses on a small area. The recticles in the sights are a simple dot rather than sniper crosshairs, a big advantage was that they come in different colors as well. He tested the sights in various firearms and discovered that even though they are effective, they don't shoot as far as the ACOG. No matter, it all depends on the user and not the actual weapon itself for it to be effective. That's why he was training his siblings in firing firearms at ridiculous ranges with the conventional sights and attachment sights, they must know every tool in their arsenal in order to conquer their enemies.

As his siblings were having fun taking pot-shots at humanoid silhouette targets over 100+ centimeters, Chad was busy working on a new attachment underneath a winter camouflage tarp tent nearby. He was figuring out how to cool the barrel on a 2 mm machine gun faster than the cool down time. Since prolonged use of an LMG would cause warping in the barrel due to the immense heat generated, he was trying to figure out how to attach a coolant system to it. What he came up was 4 tiny fans fitted on a collar, powered by a small lithium battery. It was attached over the barrel just right at the head dispensing cage of the barrel, the fans are manually turned on and will cool the barrel when needed. Chad would have to thank Gizmo for making these tiny-ass fans later, he'll get him beer when on break.

Just as Chad perfected his prototype, he was startled by a fist slamming against his wooden workbench. Chad shot up and saw Chernov standing before him, the expression on his face was showing curiosity. "Chernov," said Chad, "You ready for reviewing my innovations?"

"Yes Chad," said Chernov, "And I see you're making an electronic radiator for that 2 mm, how is it working?"

"It's working great, though I kinda doubt it would make much of a difference though."

"A tiny difference is a big difference, speaking of differences let's see what you have in store about these attachment sights."

"Alright, come with me and I'll show you."

Chad took Chernov over to the outdoor firing range, as they walked past several green smurfs Chad opened up a door leading to a small closet. Chernov stood outside as Chad pulled a small cardboard box off the top shelf, he returned to Chernov and sat the box on the table. "Okay then," said Chad as he opened it up, revealing several different types of attachment sights, "Here are the sights I'd developed."

"Can they be attached to any weapon?" asked Chernov.

"Mainly green smurf weaponry, but I'm not sure about red smurf weapons though. I hadn't tested these sights on pistols but I did tested it on a Smurfsterner submachine gun."

"The Smurfsterner, isn't it a red smurf weapon?"

"It was, until someone nabbed the blueprints and we began to produce a green smurf variant of the weapon. Far more accurate and lighter, nothing else was changed."

Chernov placed his fist over his chin and thought about it, it made Chad a little nervous, "Getting back to the sights, is there a Standard Infantry Rifle with the default barrel on it somewhere?"

"There's one in the closet."

"Retrieve it then."

Chad walked back into the closet and looked around, sure enough there was a SIR base and the rifle mod sitting on a shelf. It looked like it was left there or something. Chad grabbed both halves and attached it together, then grabbed a box of 1.18 mm magazine clips before returning to Chernov.

"So how are these sights attached?" asked Chernov.

"Simple," said Chad, "Screw it on. There are holes pre-drilled in the base so the screws can be attached fairly easily."

"Won't the screws effect handling when attaching new barrels or the sights' accuracy?"

"The holes are originally made for sniper scopes, so the sights can be easily fitted with ease."

"Okay, let's put in an ACOG scope and try the sight out since you keep bragging how effective it was."

"Would you wanna firing the weapon using the iron sights so you have an independent variable to compare to?"

"Good thought Chad, let's give it a shot."

Chernov grabbed a pair of ear protection muffs as Chad stood back, he watched as his boss sit down on a chair and load a clip into the SIR before cocking the weapon, "Is that target already used out there?" he asked.

"Which one?" asked Chad.

"The bullseye target on the 100 cm range."

Chad went into the closet and grabbed a pair of binoculars off the shelf, he walked back outside and looked through them towards the target Chernov pointed at. He could see no visible bullet holes on the surface of the paper target, "It's clean," he answered, "You're good to go bro."

"Alright," said Chernov, "Lining up my sights, taking aim..."

There was a brief pause before Chernov opened fire, the blast startled Chad, causing him to jump. After just firing only three shots, Chernov turned the safety on the weapon and sat it down, "How did I do?"

Chad looked through the binoculars again at the target, "Not bad, you hit the target but didn't get the dead center mark."

"Now for that ACOG, mind changing the target?"

"Yes sir."

Chad had all the green smurfs cease fire on their weapons, they sat their guns down as Chad grabbed a fresh paper bullseye target and walked out into the range. He approach the target Chernov shot at and replaced it with the fresh one. Chad returned to Chernov and sat the target on the table, he then picked up the ACOG and a screwdriver from the small box and screwed it onto the SIR, "It's ready."

The green smurfs didn't return shooting at their targets, instead they stood by and watch as Chernov lined up the ACOG's cross hairs at the bullseye target, "It's like lining up a sniper rifle, its also a bit zoomed in. This might be interesting."

He fired three shots, Chad had his binoculars out and ready, "How's it look Chad?" asked Chernov.

"Impossible," said Chad, "You hit the target dead center in _all _three shots!"

"You're bluffing."

"I'm not entirely sure, we'll know wants we got a look at it up close."

Chad puts down the binoculars and grabbed a new bullseye target, he went out into the firing range, switched Chernov's target with the fresher one, and brought back the used target to Chernov. Chad handed it to Chernov and he took a look at it, then sat it down. Not only they had three holes in the center of the target, the holes weren't _overlapping_ with each other, "ACOG approved." said Chernov.

The nearby green smurfs cheered with yee-haws and ura battlecries, Chad felt a sense of relief overcome him, "So what about the other sights?" Chernov added.

"They won't match in range with the ACOG since they aren't zoomed in, but the accuracy should be similar."

"Similar."

Chernov sat down the weapon and took out the reflex and red dot sights, he looked through them for a little bit before returning them into the box, "I don't see the difference in these scopes," he said, "Why two different scopes with the same variables?"

"To give the green smurfs a sense of choice. You know, pick out what they're more comfortable with."

"Smart of you, I think I'll set this one out." Chernov then turned to the green smurfs standing nearby, "Did any of you tested out Chad's reflex and red dot sights?"

"Yes." one of the green smurfs chirped.

"How was it?"

"Better than iron sights, the surgical precision is just... fascinating."

"Might be even better when carrying an LMG." Chernov returned his attention to Chad, "All of your scopes are approved Chad, get them into production as soon as possible."

"Thank you Chernov."

"Your welcome."

**. . .**

"So why did you brought me over here tonight Izotov?" asked Oleg.

"Oh just to chat and have a few drinks," said Izotov, "I'm getting too old with my career and I need a break once in awhile."

"After that display you showed to my cousin, I'm surely not surprised at all. Heck, I knew you would snap some sense into him."

"Well I get fed up with him sometimes, I'm not afraid to show it because I helped raised him. Adrian always gets nervous with elders since he respects their authority, no rank shall surpass experience and age."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Sergei came into the room with a bucket, he sat it down on the small round coffee table and took a seat in the cushioned chairs, "Vodka and Wine," said Sergei, "Iced for 3 hours, it should be cold enough for consumption."

"Good," said Oleg as he grabbed a bottle of wine from the bucket and popped it open, "I have some memories I need drowned out and this wine might do it."

**. . .**

Izotov couldn't believe his luck, his plan to get Oleg drunk enough where he starts spilling the beans was working too well than he previously thought. Too well... It wasn't long that Oleg became intoxicated and lost all sense of civility, he laughed and chat to him and Sergei, constantly alternating between conversations. He was talking alright, a bit loud than needed but it was all that Izotov needed.

"So he took this soap bar in shower right," said Oleg, "He chucked it, simply chucked it onto the floor. And boy when those conscripts saw that soap bar, they swarm the thing like wasps. They punched and fight and kicked, a few special moves here and there. They want that piece of hygene so bad that I think someone left to go get a weapon, so guess what I did."

"What did you do?" asked Sergei.

"Well the soap bar was tossed aside accidentally and nobody notices, so I tiptoed over to the soap bar, picked it up, and left without a minute's notice. Ha! They were stumped that it disappeared, they probably figured it out when I smell good the following day. I think it was Kamarov who chucked the soap bar, have no idea where he gotten a hold of it. Probably stole it, its an elite's item. Damn that prankster."

Sergei and Oleg laughed as Izotov chuckled, Oleg took another swig of wine and sighed, "Is there anything else w-we have to cover?"

This may be the time to ask, better move it or loose it, "You're close to Adrian right?" Izotov asked.

"Yeah, we've been together since we were barely able to talk. He spoke sooner as I recall, I'm not so sure."

"Do you know where he gets the reinforcements when we needed some?"

"Well he does have this base."

"What base?"

"A base that involves some things I'm not sure of, he tried to explain everything to me but I was so bogged down with knowledge that I didn't understand that I kinda wondered off."

"Kinda."

"Yeah, I spoke with the new recruits and they were just like any other. I had a hard time how he gotten a hold of them."

"Now I thought that Fort Romanov was the only red smurf base for kilometers." said Sergei.

"Not true," said Oleg, "There is one... I think its somewhere near here, or somewhere a bit too close for comfort for the Green Smurf Colony. I know its somewhere in between us and them, but I only been to it once. I always wondered about that star-shaped rock near the entrance, covered in vegetation. You may never notice it was there, that's how well hidden it was even though its right in your face."

Oleg started to relax his head and thrown it back into the chair, "Oh wow," he said, "Adrian Dragovich, Dragovich... how come I never been noticed back at the Urals? I was never noticed, hard to make friends there. It wasn't until Adrian brought me some attention by giving me control of this Spetsnaz he crafted, said to be the best of the best. Brave smurf, very brave."

Without warning Oleg slumped over and fell asleep, Izotov realized this may be all the information he can get a hold of. _Base_, he thought, _What was this base?_ His assumption that General Dragovich keeps secrets from him seemed to be a reality, but he needed more evidence. If Adrian is off running errands and he has free time, he might go digging around in his things and look for clues about this secret base. Right now, he needs to get Oleg back to the Spetsnaz bunker. He felt bad getting him drunk but this was nothing new for Oleg, he always drinks heavily.

"Sergei," said Izotov, "Help me get Oleg back to his bedroom."

"Sure Izotov," said Sergei, letting out a silly grin, "I may had a few too many but I'm still cool enough to function."

"Yeah, I can't believe you weren't that bright about the alcohol."

"You mind getting me some of those tablet medicine before you go to bed? Just set it on my nightstand, I'll handle the rest."

"Sure thing youngin, now help me with Oleg will you?"

Sergei sat the vodka bottle down and grabbed Oleg's hands, Izotov grabbed Oleg's feet and the two carry him off. As they transport him, he muttered to himself in Russian about his childhood. Izotov couldn't understand his muttering since his speech wasn't clear, it must had to do something with his favorite past times or something. Just as they get out the door from the VIP bunker. General Dragovich showed up at the front door, Izotov and Sergei stopped as he saw his cousin past out drunk.

"Had a few too many again?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah," said Izotov, "You should get him to stop drinking."

"I should, I told him not to drink but he never listens. You think you can play your role as well?"

"I think I can."

"Oh, one more thing. I've been thinking what you said this morning after Sergei had his shock and my failure to control the situation."

"You had? I knew you would."

"Yes sir, I must heed your wisdom. I spend a good portion of the afternoon helping the infantry repair Fort Romanov's walls, with my own bare hands. It raised the morale in the soldiers, but they seem to know that I'm not doing enough."

"Plan before you do, don't over think the obvious."

"Yes Comrade Colonel. I'm... sorry for my actions out there, and about Sergei getting twisted into a knot of it all. Might as well do the right thing and ship Baldwin's body back to the colony, if the red smurfs can make it though."

"Might as well bury him nearby, its too late for good measures Dragovich. You have a plan when they invade?"

"I do, I'll tell you about it when the time comes."

"Izotov," said Sergei, "I can't hold him forever."

"Not that one," muttered Oleg, "Its too sexy."

Adrian chuckled, "Drunk."

The general soon walked away and Izotov and Sergei continued on, "You sure he really means it?" asked Sergei.

"I don't think he has any choice," said Izotov, "Its too late for him, but it doesn't hurt to embrace your demise."

"What do you mean?"

"Fight to the bitter end, a prophesy he runs on. Did he ever tell you about it."

"No."

"Ask him someday, just don't ask it _too _soon."

Izotov and Sergei soon got Oleg into his bed, they simply left him there as they leave the Spetsnaz bunker, "Everybody must to be asleep tonight," said Izotov, noting the unusual calm over Fort Romanov, "Is it midnight?"

"No Comrade Colonel," said Sergei, "Its barely nineteen-hundred hours."

"Odd, how odd. Well goodnight Sergei, I'll see you in the morning."

"Still in bed probably, good night sir."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	29. Act II: Chapter XXIX

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXIX_

When the photos came in from the Colony's spy plane surveillance over Fort Romanov, Chernov saw how bad the destruction was. Fort Romanov's infirmary was totally destroyed. Parts of the barracks was annihilated and some sections of the walls protecting the fort was obliterated. The red smurfs seemed to be hastily repairing the damage done by _The Baron Avenger_, Chernov imagined the superior officers pushing their subordinates to the limit. He doesn't blame them, its a matter of survival in their world. As he further went through the photos, he found the crash site of the bomber that failed to return home.

_The Baron Avenger,_ or what's left of it, looked like a bomber no more. It was a wasteland of trash and debris of twisted metal and burned wood. Since there was red smurf activity all over the site, they may had picked up some survivors from the crash. If that was the case then there isn't a moment to waste.

About the next day, Chernov got straight out of bed, got dressed, and marched over to the Command Center. He found the lights turned of, so he flipped them back on. Inside at the back of the single room spiderhole was Rick and Dashie, rudely awakened from the unexpected light.

"Get ready Rick," said Chernov, "Big day today."

'What are we doing?" he muttered as he stretched his arms.

"We're heading over to Fort Romanov, with an army."

"Oh sh*t, right away?"

"Sometime around noon, we have to get ready now."

"There's a snow storm coming, we might freeze out there once it rolls in."

"It matters little."

"Oh alright, get the troops ready. I'll be with you in a little bit, after I finish taking care of my Zs."

"Yeah, whatever."

Chernov leaves Rick alone for now, he made his way through several GSVs and managed to locate Chad's spiderhole. He gave the door a knocked and waited, it soon opened and Chad stood before him, just as tired as Rick, "Chernov?" he asked as he rubbed one of his eyes with a fist, "What are you here for?"

"Prepare the army," said Chernov, "We're going out around afternoon."

"To Fort Romanov?"

"Yes."

"Might as well get my gun, I'll see what I can do in rounding up the armed forces."

"Daddy," said Katusha from inside the spiderhole, "Who's at the door?"

"Chernov sweetie."

"Oh, okay."

Chad returned his attention back to Chernov, "Might as well get started right away, I'll get ready and meet up without at the Command Center. How's that?"

"Good," said Chernov, "Take your time, but he back there at noon."

"Will do Chernov, will do."

Chernov leaves as Chad shut the door behind him, this shouldn't take long in getting everything set up. He knows that the green smurfs won't waste any time, they always get stuff on schedule. Maybe they'll be reluctant this time, it would be the first operation since the Humanoid Wars that they would be fighting far from home.

**. . .**

It took awhile to execute, it wasn't long until the ground force infantry and armor divisions were ready. The green smurf conscripts were equipped with two primary weapons: an SIR with either a rifle or shotgun barrel and an RS-100 assault rifle. They were also equipped with a 0.9 mm pistol secondary weapon. Supplying them were 4 magazine clips for each gun, that should be enough to get a single green smurf through a good portion of the battle, unless they're trigger happy. Chernov was sure that they don't mind sharing their ammo with their fellow comrades, either live or dead. Besides firearms, they were equipped with 4 stick grenades and 4 combat-ready Molotov Cocktails. The explosives and incendiaries should help wipe out several red smurfs when bullets aren't enough.

It would be mad for them to go out into battle without some form of armor protection. So every green smurf wore a specialized "dragon skin" vest made out of titanium, copper, and kevlar fabric. This vest should stop a bullet and some forms of explosives in its tracks. With the vital organs protected, there should be less casualties than the rough estimate Lizzy predicted. Speaking of protection, Chad's juggernaut division is up and ready. At least 10 obese green smurfs wore heavily armored suits that covers them head to toe. Rather than an SIR or RS-100, they were armed with a 2 mm machine gun to complete their mythical effectiveness. Since the Juggernaut Program was still experimental, there's no telling how it will turn out in actual combat.

The tanks were prepped for battle, they're the usual Reznov tanks. When compared to the red smurf's S-34 main battle tank, they have similar distinct features: slanted armor, cage armor, a 7 mm main gun, a 3 mm machine gun, and a flamethrower. What drifts them apart was a few things, the S-34 was made entirely of steel as the Reznov tank had a titanium shell and a brass skeleton. Though the Reznov tanks were more expensive, they have a longer lifespan and lesser maintenance as the S-34 was dirt cheap and can easily break down.

Along with tanks, there were some lesser and major tanks. The green smurfs managed to get a hold of the Ripsaw, which is a light armored tank with a 3 mm Gatling gun; and the Apocalypse tank, a slightly larger version of the Reznov tank with _two _12 mm barrels. Though there are numerous Ripsaws at Chernov's disposal, there was only one Apocalypse tank. This heavy tank should help the green smurfs getting into Fort Romanov and causing all sorts of mayhem. If it wasn't for Dimitri providing the blueprints of the human versions, he wouldn't be so sure if the green smurfs will stand a chance against their armored divisions.

Chernov had gave the choice of either installing one of Chad's sight attachment or not. About 3 out of 4 green smurfs chose to put a sight on their weapons. Unlike the red smurfs who simply gave them the same weapon, the green smurfs were given the choice to customize their weapons. The diversity of SIRs and RS-100s may be beneficial, since their weaknesses are no longer alike. Seeing how successful the sites were told Chernov that it was a wise choice in approving them, Chad must be so proud of it.

Once equipped with their gear, the green smurfs organized themselves in square formations in a large open area. Chernov stood on top of a tree stump and looked over the crowd of his half-brothers and half-sisters, there were a lot of volunteers, maybe he would turn this into a win yet, _Wow, _he thought, _Full house today_.

Rick and Chad stood by each of his sides with him, they too were nervous, but with confidence, "Do it Chernov." said Rick.

"Got it."

Chernov took a deep breath and held it for a minute, here it goes, "My fellow brothers and sisters," said Chernov, his voice amplified through many speakers, "The day has come."

Since he didn't use the term "half-brothers and half-sisters" it got the green smurfs and smurfettes' attention squared on, "About a couple of weeks ago," he continued, "The red smurfs had stormed the Smurf Village and took our elder smurfs, it was _my _failure in not providing security due to the risk of stripping their freedom and sending them into corruption. As a result, I was horribly defeated from the attack. Since they had not contacted us ever since the elder smurfs' kidnapping, it has been assumed that they're not planning to negotiate. We green smurfs will so a retaliation like no other than our human fore-fathers. Our way of life and the survival of our race as a whole are weighed heavily on our shoulders. This will be the greatest test of the green smurf race, the test to prove to Mother Nature we are _worthy _of living on the face of this planet.

"In the past, she tried to exterminate our children with influenza and genetic disorders. Next she sent the human race into our territory to wipe us out in one blow. Finally she had sent the red smurfs, a morally corrupted version of our species from the far East in Human Russia. Though these attacks by potential predators are not caused by her hand alone, but by the rules of evolution she had applied to life itself. Our existence right now is in its infancy, our diversity not so spread out. We are the first generation of our race, we follow _no _example. We must make an example for our children to live and thrive!

The green smurfs cheered as many whistled and clapped.

"The reds not only have our elder smurfs but a couple of members of the next generation, those members are my own contribution. As I speak, our friends, uncles, and youngins are suffering from untold horrors in Fort Romanov's mines. Their general nonetheless had finally found some creatures to have power over of, we will not allow them that power. We will march in there and burn Fort Romanov _literally_ to the ground and destroy the red smurf race once and for all!

The green smurfs let out a cheer again, then Chernov urged them on.

"Will you stand it no longer!"

"No!" cried the green smurfs.

"Will you do something about it!"

"Yes!"

"Then lets go over there and kick some ass, URA!"

"URA!"

"Everybody to a transport truck, we'll be moving in 30 minutes. Dismissed!"

As all of the green smurfs leaved for their transport cars, Chernov, Chad, and Rick got down from the treestump, "Rick, Chad," said Chernov, "Go to your respective armies and prepare them, I'll get mine settled up."

"Yes sir," said Chad and Rick in unison.

As Chad and Rick ran off, Chernov was getting ready to depart when Rachael rushed up to him. First she gave him a big hug and said, "I wanna come with you," she said, "I wanna join the fight."

"I'm not stopping you Rachael," said Chernov, "As much as I love you, I will not deny your request in the sake of our children."

"Oh, that was more easier than I thought."

"I'm letting you come along since I know you'll come along without my knowledge, you are such troublemaker since you made your moves at the worst possible times, that's one of many reasons why I love you."

Rachael giggled, "I suppose you know that this is my war as well."

"I know, I would imagine our children simply melt into your arms like butter once they discovered their mother was there to break them free."

"Oh the rascals, I missed them so much."

"I missed them too, I'm willing to keep that promise of yours Rachael, there's no turning back now."

That was when Chernov remembered something, "Oh, um Rachael?"

"Yeah."

"If, and only if I fallen in battle. I want you to take command and get the green smurfs out of there when things turn hairy."

"Wha- why?"

"I'm sharing the power I have to you, I don't want you feel left out. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I can."

"That's my Rachael. Come on, let's get you some gear and head on out."

"Okay Chernov."

**. . .**

Dragovich made his punishment to the POWs slightly longer than expected, instead of an entire day he had the blue smurfs starve for two days straight. The result was a bit mixed, some smurfs like Painter, Clumsy, Greedy, and Lazy had been completely demoralized, though some smurfs like Hefty, Handy, and Tuffy still had pride, confidence, and hope. This mixed reaction made Dragovich change his policy, he returned basic needs to the blue smurfs who had lost all hope of rescue and sent them back to work in the mines, then extended the punishment to a third day for smurfs who still had some fight in them. He performed a quick poll among them and discovered about 73% of the smurfs had given up, 23% continued to fight, and 4% somewhere in between or willing to cooperate.

It became clear to Dragovich that he can't hold onto them forever, the green smurfs will rage about their treatment if word gets out. It wasn't long when the thought trailed across his mind, another experiment to try on the smurfs. He had heard of human alchemist and wizards seeking the blue skins in order to cure disease and make gold out of them. The idea of alchemy sounded absurd to him, flesh to metal, really? Might as well dig up Fool's Gold than getting actual gold. If it's worth a try-

Dragovich's front door popped open without warning, causing the general to snap into attention. It was Oleg, he looked worse for wear, "Goddamn coz," he said, "You look like hammered sh#t."

"Oh what happened Comrade General," said Oleg, "Was there a party last night?"

"No Comrade Sergeant, you just got drunk is all."

"I am so not drinking ever again, can you do everyone a favor and put an alcohol limit in Fort Romanov?"

"Might as well do so, is there anything else to report?"

"I have a feeling something's going to happen, and no, its not from the headache I'm having."

"Since we had been bombed, that could mean something _else _is going to happen. I'm sure our informant might help us in that problem."

"Who _is _our informant?"

"A green smurf defector no doubt, she has access to the Command Center and everything."

"She?"

"Yup, I'm not willing to say what her name is. But I do know that she's a mean-spirited and quite grumpy, no wonder she was so easy to join our cause."

"Now I don't wish to know who she is. Changing the subject, what are you going to do with those blue smurfs? We can't keep them locked up forever you know."

"Simple, we'll take some of them and turn them into gold."

Oleg didn't respond right away, "Gold?" he gasped, "That is impossible, gold is an element and it cannot be created nor destroyed by chemical means."

"I know," said General Dragovich, "But the blue smurfs don't know that."

"So you're going to make it look like you're going to turn them into gold, but you're just killing them in the most unusual way possible."

"Correct."

"Damn, where the hell did you get this idea?"

"The Humanoid Wars, when Sergei was a soldier and Spetsnaz was getting started."

Oleg walked over to the window and looked out of it, he stared out through it for about a moment as if he was admiring something, "Looks very cloudy today," he said, "A bit of gray and some fog on the windows, I do recall it was freezing when I was out there. You think its going to snow?"

"I can have a weather balloon sent up into the sky and we'll find out within half an hour."

"Where's the weather balloons and the gadgets for it?"

"Probably in the basement, let's go get them."

General Dragovich got up and he and his cousin walked out of the room, "Hm," said Oleg, "One of the few times we do something by our own muscle rather than pushing paper. Where did the subordinates store the Hydrogen canisters?"

"I do recall it was locked inside of a wooden crate," said Dragovich, "Been there for a few days now, wouldn't hurt to use them now."

"Yes... it wouldn't."

**. . .**

Chernov and Rachael managed to step inside the back of the transport truck with Jack, Lizzy, Gizmo, Tesla, and a few other green smurfs. Once he sat down on the bench, he looked into the road and saw the green smurfs who didn't volunteer waving goodbye. He managed to give them a wave before he pulled the truck's trunk up, "We're ready to go." he called out to the driver.

"Copy," said the driver, "We're rolling out."

Chernov placed the butt of his RS-100 onto the floor of the truck and hold onto the other end as the truck began to move out. It crawled at first, but within seconds it was rolling down the paved road as the rest of the convoy follows from behind. _15 trucks,_ Chernov thought, _Carrying 300 green smurfs, about 20 percent of the colony. If this mission fails, it would be my fault._

"Is something wrong Chernov?" asked Rachael.

"Oh," he said, "I just remembered that I had a weak stomach, it would be miracle if I survive when we get there."

Chernov's secretaries chuckled, "Had been awhile since you were a passenger?" asked Lizzy.

"Yup, I'm wishing I'm sleeping on the couch right now. That's what I'm going to do after the battle, jump on the couch and sleep before Rachael gets it."

Rachael gave Chernov a sharp nudge with her elbow, Chernov retaliated by pulling her closer to him, "So how's the vest Rachael?"

"Its snug," she said as readjust vest to get it to fully cover her mid-section, "The old gut is being suffocated I tell you."

"That dragon skin design should help you get used to the vest faster," said Gizmo, "Helped with me."

"It took me longer," said Tesla, "I really love it since they had some pockets on her, helps me store more gear."

"So tell me Tesla," said Chernov, "What is it like being out of a lab coat?"

"Um..." Tesla repositioned his eye-goggles and exhaled, "I feel a bit cold on the arms."

"Its winter," said Lizzy, "How can you not feel cold at all?"

"I get warmed up when I have gunpowder going off around me, explosions is even better."

Chernov looked back out and saw they were now out of the Green Smurf Colony and into unknown territory, he could see the last of green smurf made landmarks disappearing from his view, "Take a good look guys," said Chernov, "It may be the last time you'll ever see the colony."

The green smurfs looked out the back and saw their home shrinking before their eyes as the transport truck drove ever farther away, "It's like being on an odyssey you know," said Lizzy, "Well at least we'll gain new territory."

"Territory we cannot defend with our current numbers," said Chernov, "Maybe after a few generations we'll have some green smurfs patrol the area, unless humans hadn't moved in."

"I always wondered," said Rachael, "Besides us, do red smurfs kill other creatures?"

"I know they kill animals," said Chernov, "But other humanoids, I do not know. Maybe we'll ask some red smurfs personally if we managed to capture some, see what they have to say about the question."

"Had anyone every thought of carrying the blue smurfs outta Fort Romanov," asked Tesla, "Once we get them out? Anyone?"

"I had that planned, several vertibirds and transport trucks will take on the role. They'll scatter in all directions and meet back in the Green Smurf Colony."

"Why scatter?" asked Lizzy.

"That way the red smurfs won't focus their war machines at a single convoy, imagine trying to shoot a single domesticated duck in a huge flock of mallard ducks when their airborne."

"Ohhhh," said Gizmo, "Nicely planned."

"Its _risky_, I won't know if we're able to get them all out at once. Maybe some of the blue smurfs would get recaptured, or even executed. Once we attack them, all bets are off."

"We already had attacked them." said Lizzy.

"Of course, but we didn't add hell to the attack. This time, the reds will need some spare diapers on hand when they get a taste of their own medicine."

The green smurfs hadn't spoke anymore after that, Rachael kept her head sat onto Chernov's shoulder as he sat there looking out into the wilderness of Belgium. Seeing the partially melted snow from the day where it all began made him wanna symbolize snow as death and despair, he didn't though, snow already had that reputation for eons. No need to put negative superstition on it again. Chernov closed his eyes and listened to the rumblings of the transport truck and the dozen or so trucks behind him, _Don't fail Dad, _he thought, _Don't ever fail him._

**. . .**

"Okay," said General Dragovich as he tied the sensor onto a piece of sturdy string, "This should hold the sensor when it tumbles through several jet steams and into the stable zones of the atmosphere."

"Hydrogen is all set," said Oleg, "When to launch this thing sir?"

"When you feel like it coz."

Oleg turned off the Hydrogen bottle and tied a knot into the mouth of the weather balloon, "She's ready to fly," he announced, "Let's take her out and set her free."

"Let's hope it doesn't go too far," said General Dragovich, "It may wound up in green smurf airspace for all I know."

"Can they shoot it down?"

"If its low enough, they will."

The cousins maneuver the weather balloon and got it outside, they simply let go of the balloon and watched it drift up to the heavens without making a sound, "Simple as that," said General Dragovich, "We'll check the computer later to see what kind of data it picks up, right now I wanna check on the subordinates to see how they're fairing."

"Okay then," said Oleg, "I'll be out of your way and tend to my chores, it's a killer workload all thanks to the green smurfs."

"More repairing and searching?"

"Yes. By the way, they're _your _orders to begin with."

"I told you to do it for a day, had I not?"

"Yes, you did. But I still have to be in continuous contact with the soldiers out searching for lone green smurfs, which is another weight on my shoulders since I have to help repair the remaining parts of the wall. The wall alone is a burden that made my feet blister."

"I helped repair a good portion of it myself Oleg, nothing to it."

"You only repaired the breach where the Wunderwaffe twins took advantage of, nothing else. I'm not willing to criticize your actions Comrade Cousin but even if you did your part in repairing and leading search parties in the short-term, there will still be those who must deal with the long-term effects. The breaking point is worn thin Adrian, you hadn't been keeping your promises as you should have."

"Well I hadn't prepared for a rival green smurf species to come here, had they weren't here to begin with-"

"Comrade General, it isn't about the green smurfs, it never has. You could had just made friends with them, even made friends with the blue smurfs. But you chose to attack them, if they realize how weak we really are... you know what they're going to do to us."

General Dragovich leaned against the side of the VIP building, "How?"

"Sergei had spent some time with the green smurfs during his stay with them during the Humanoid Wars," said Oleg, "They don't operate under a strict code of guidelines like us, they operate under the rules and laws of _evolution_. They fight within their limits and always adapt to the changing situation, modifying existing technologies and – if the situation demands it – invent new technologies."

"Go on."

"In their military structure, they modify their troops and organize them in squads and regiments with certain traits, depending on height, weight, strength, and intelligence. For example, they will send lean and agile green smurfs into battle if the war zone mainly has to do with an open field. But as for tight quarters with not much elbow room – such as a narrow hallway – they will send in their fat and strong green smurfs in. I've seen the green smurf's on how they operate myself, they move across the battlefield as if they have a sixth sense."

"Hm, I always wondered why they have green smurfs stricken with obesity be fighting at all. Their gaits just slow them down, though it makes sense if you need some muscle of course. However, I find it hard to believe that a fat green smurf can even function in a battlefield without a problem."

"They found ways to overcome that problem because they stick with their _roles_. This is stuff we can argue all day long and get nowhere, it isn't meant to be argued with because all the kinks had been sorted out."

"And if there are unknown kinks?"

"Then they take it to account."

General Dragovich thought of it for awhile, he hadn't taken along the women, the obese red smurfs, the frail, and the ill along with him because he thought that they weren't too worthy for the opportunity he had given to his people. Maybe it's time to reconsider... Nahh, the green smurfs can operate their own way and he operates his own. He can't stand the sight of fatties, girly girl women, sick, and weak red smurfs. So many _problems_ they pose.

_A bunch of bullsh*t you ask me_. Thought General Dragovich, though he doesn't wanna share his opinion to Oleg. He didn't want to make him angry. Besides, he has a point, those green smurfs are making use of everybody they have. Green smurfs aren't replaceable since they aren't too many of them. But there's plenty of red smurfs to go around, having a thousand red smurfs sent to the slaughter house means another thousand red smurfs takes their place. No way will he let this kind of imperfection into his army, the reputation of the red smurf race demands it.

_Work your magic Adrian,_ thought General Dragovich, _Change the subject._

"By hearing your statement, you should be an analyst of some kind. A political officer perhaps?"

Oleg grunted, "Sharing your blood with our grandfather is all the politics I'll ever need."

That shocked General Dragovich hard, he hadn't expected that remark nor tone coming from him in a hundred years. Realizing he had no comeback for him, the general simply made a frown and said, "Fair enough, dismissed."

"Yes Comrade General, cousin."

As Oleg walked off, General Dragovich returned back into the VIP Bunker. He made his way back into his office and sat back down on his chair, he thought for awhile, a long while. First Izotov became a thorn in his side and now his own cousin, had the vodka clouded his brain or something? No, Oleg's too sober. Izotov had made his criticism in a banter, yet Oleg made his criticism in a passive tone. Of course it is good to have constructive criticism, but Dragovich knew that the language they used was too harsh. It was a sheer sign that they're trying to resist him.

_Good, _General Adrian Dragovich thought, _It's all going to plan as expected. _

**. . .**

"Chernov," said the driver, "We're getting close to Fort Romanov, I can't take you any further without getting blown up."

"Alright," said Chernov, "Keep driving until you see the fort in the distance, then stop."

"Roger."

Chernov didn't have to wait long for the driver to obey his order, the transport truck slowed down and rolled to a stop. Once it was parked, Chernov had everyone get out of the car. The rest of the convoy stopped as well and unloaded their passengers, the armored divisions and Chad and Rick's co-armies made a detour and drove into the hibernating vegetation. As the last of the vheicles vanished into the trees, all of Chernov's own forces grouped near him as he assessed the landscape. They were at the edge of a forest, stretching before them was no-man's land, covered in snow imprinted with the tracks of red smurf feet and machinery. Bits and pieces of that last attack was found here and there, yet there wasn't much debris for anyone to notice.

"Binoculars." said Chernov.

Jack handed him binoculars and Chernov walked to no-man's land to get a better view of Fort Romanov. When he spotted the fort, he noted that it was a bit far. Not far away in human standards but far away in smurf standards, Chernov looked through the binoculars and got a zoomed-in view of the fort. The fort still retained some damage from _The Baron Avenger's _bombing run, yet it had been mostly repaired. Chernov saw the repairs was horrible, whatever concrete they had used seemed to had the wrong ratio to make it. The concrete that was paved over the chips and cracks were visible, they appeared to have a brighter color than the original concrete wall. They looked like gum in the distance, Chernov was sure that it was much worse up close.

The all to familiar symbols of the hammer & sickle was partially seen by the buildings sticking out above the wall line. The most distinctive building happened to be the largest, a big hammer & sickle was carved on its front face as a flag pole was positioned on top of its flat roof. The red smurf's red banner flew on that pole with its corners outstretched by the wind, it was big, its' red both intimidating and frightening. That flag was probably seen all over the fort, which was perfect for Chernov. He had the green smurf's own varient flag in his backpack: A simple white flag dawning a green hammer & sickle with two olive branches neatly placed underneath, all encased in a boundary shaped as a green 5-pointed star. He plans to replace the red banner with the green smurf's own flag, that would show those red smurf's whose boss.

Chernov walkedback towards his green smurfs and put the binoculars away, "Get the armored regiments in position, they'll provide the distraction as we get the infantry inside Fort Romanov. Rick and Chad will be coming in from East and South, we'll be coming in from the West."

"I don't think it's going to work," said Lizzy, "Unless we got some smoke in the air to block our arrival."

"Some well placed fires will provide the smoke cover," said Chernov, "The cold air would be of use in this historical battle of the Primary War."

"Get in, grab the blue smurfs, get out, right?" asked Tesla.

"Simple, yet doing it isn't as easy as we previously thought it would be."

"Fort Romanov looks big," said Rachael as she look out over no-man's land, "It could be easy to get lost."

"We'll stick together as a squad, we'll have everyone do their own thing and what not."

Chernov's radio crackled to life, "We're in position Wunderwaffe," said Chad, "We'll go on you're order."

He got out the radio and held it to his ear, "You may commence, soften them up with the tanks and artillery fire first. Then we'll send in the troops."

"10-4."

Immediately hot orange flares streaked out of the horizon in all directions surrounding the fort, they clobbered the buildings and walls with ease. It wasn't long before the attack siren sounded as chaos followed suit. Chernov found it almost funny that disorder came faster than the actual fighting, he will be laughing once he have the red smurf's under his thumb, "To arms?" asked Jack.

"To arms." said Chernov.

Chernov's squad put their fists in the center together before holding it up high, "Okay guys," said Chernov, "First we wait, then we'll make history."

**. . .**

The rocketing and vibrations caught General Dragovich completely off guard, nearly knocking him out of his chair. He scrambled to his feet and looked out the window, just in time to see a mortar shell crash onto the roof of a barracks. The red smurfs were running around almost in circles as they scrambled to defensive positioned, Dragovich got onto the radio and cleared his throat, "What's happening?"

"We're under attack!" cried a red smurf defender.

"I know that but _who _is attacking!"

"The Green Smurf Colony, oh crap they have us surrounded! Oh go-"

An explosion from outside interrupted the transmission, General Dragovich cursed as he tuned the radio to another frequency, "Spetsnaz," he ordered, "Get ready to evacuate, be ready in five minutes flat!"

As he puts up the radio, Sergei ran into his office in complete shock, "Dra-"

"I know!" he bantered, "Pack your things, we're getting out of here!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

"Yes sir!"

As Sergei ran out of the room, Dragovich got out a briefcase and began packing it with important documents. He also got out his pistol and loaded before running out the door, Izotov walked out of one of the rooms. He looked shocked and in awe, though mostly terrified. "Izotov!" screamed Dragovich, "Pack your things, we're getting out of here!"

"Now I-"

"We'll argue about this later Colonel, pack your things and follow me! That's an order!"

"Yes sir!" said Izotov, his expression telling Dragovich he was more frustrated with him than anyone else.

As Izotov ran back into his room Sergei came back with a backpack on him, "Okay sir," he said, "Now what?"

That's when Dragovich remembered something, "Go to the basement level and get Brainy out of there, now!"

"Yes sir!"

Sergei ran off towards the stairs and went down them, Dragovich soon waited for Izotov to get ready, by the time he was out with a backpack on Dragovich pushed him towards the stairs, "Less talk more running," he said, "Move! Move! I'll explain everything along the way!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	30. Act II: Chapter XXX

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Act II: Chapter XXX_

Being strapped into that chair awhile listening to the recordings of repeating numbers drove Brainy nearly to insanity. He had no idea how long he had been imprisoned, all the days in the world seemed to had merged into a unified one. At times they took him out of the chair, just to take care of a few things before putting him back in. The red smurfs cleaned him up from head to toe, let him used the bathroom, gave him food and water, then send him back to his chair to resume torture.

Whatever they were doing to him, it was working. The first few days of this torture was excruciating, but as time went on he felt his free will being stripped away by each passing hour. Finally he got to a point where he doesn't know what to do, with his emotions suppressed and his head still aching from being hacked on, he just sat there in the chair listening to the numbers regardless if he was being watched from behind that two-sided mirror. Somehow, the numbers felt like music to him now. Just a repeated tempo he can recall from years after he heard it. He was hooked onto that spell.

When his cell door swung open however, the spell broke and crumbled.

"Brainy," he heard someone called out his name, "Wake up!"

His eyes shifted, breaking out of his stare. He felt vibrations and explosions ripple up into his chair, the world that was once quiet was now filled with noise – Reality has returned.

Brainy blinked his eyes as a red smurf rushed over to him, he was worried, and terrified, "Brainy wake up," he cried, "We gotta get outta here!"

_Sergei's voice,_ Brainy thought, _Sergei..._

That's when it hit him, his memories returned like a charging rhino. It was Sergei who brought him into this room, _he _was responsible for his suffering. No, he was only just a pawn. It was Dragovich who put him in this cell, that red smurf general. Remembering that he wasn't alone and Papa Smurf was still missing, a geyser of rage erupte within him.

"W-where's Papa Smurf?" he asked.

"He's just down the hall," said Sergei, "Don't worry, I'll get him out to. Just let me remove your bonds!"

Sergei removed the straps that strangled Brainy's feet to the floor, then removed the strap that was holding down one of Brainy's hands. As Sergei focused on removing the last strap, Brainy held his freed and up. His wrist was all purple and red, covered in slight scabs where the leather strap somehow cut into him. He turned his fist into a ball, with knuckles cracking.

"Okay," said Sergei, "That's the last one, now let's-"

Sergei didn't get to finish, he was interrupted from Brainy giving him a sharp blow to the cheek bone. The blow knocked Sergei back, knocking over a table and several expensive computer equipment before collapsing onto the ground. Knocked out cold.

_Now we're even_. Thought Brainy.

_[static] 2, 7, 11, 13, 23, 19, 3, 71, 89, 5 [static]_

The numbers squealed inside his head, he didn't know what they mean. Brainy looked over to the radio equipment that played the numbers and saw that it was turned off, its electric plug had been pulled out of the wall outlet. He saw it sitting helplessly near the socket it had been for days, this can only mean one thing: His torture was over, freedom awaits.

He heard the voices of red smurfs echoing from the hall and into the room, _"Hurry, grab the vodka and let's get outta here! They're coming, they're f*cking coming!"_

Brainy understood the Russian language without any problem whatsoever, how can that be! He couldn't understand the language at all just before his torture, now he was able to translate the language. That's one language to add to his list of speakable languages: French, German, Dutch, and English. Now Russian was now added accidentally, unintended by the red smurfs captors. Maybe it was intended, but he'll never know for sure.

Now was not the time to figure out his questions, he had to get out of this high-tech dungeon. Brainy noticed that Sergei had a pistol in his holster, he got it out and checked the ammo. 0.7 mm, it will have to do. He grabbed the magazine clips from Sergei's pockets and stuffed them into his, with the handgun ready he left the room and quickly ran down the hall.

_Down the hall, _he thought, _But which room?_

A red smurf came running into the hall, he did not see Brainy raised the pistol and put several shots into his chest and head. The red smurf collapsed and drop to the ground, it took a moment for Brainy to realized that he had taken another life. He felt nausious, but kept it down by the belief that the red smurfs were going to kill him anyway.

The red smurf had been carrying a better gun, an SK-47. Brainy grabbed the assault rifle off the dead red smurf and stuffed the ammunition for the gun into his pockets. With a better gun at his disposal, he pocketed the handgun and started opening random doors. The doors were metal, though it didn't take much to get them open since they're electronic. One by one, he pressed a button besides each door and they slid open instantly. The rooms were empty, no sign that they had been occupied whatsoever. He began to panic, he opened more doors at the other end of the hall and found those empty as well.

Just when he was about to give up, he opened one last door and found Papa Smurf standing in the corner of the cell. Days spent with malnourishment and loneliness had took its toll on the old smurf, yet his eyes were still filled with life. He didn't say anything when Brainy found him, he just stood there in shock, "Papa Smurf," panted Brainy, "Oh thank smurf, I found you!"

"Brainy," he said, "What happened, what's going on?"

"I don't know, but it may be our ticket outta here. Come on, we gotta help the others!"

Brainy grabbed Papa Smurf's hand and pulled him towards the door, "Is Grandpa Smurf alright?"

"He may be in the dungeon as well but I don't know, I only been free for 5 minutes so there isn't much I can tell you."

More red smurf voices echoed down the hall, there wasn't much time left, "They're going to kill us Papa Smurf," said Brainy, "They can't be reasoned with, I don't like this as much as you do but we have no choice."

"Seeing you got a hold of one of their weapons tells me you took it from one of them." Papa Smurf noted Brainy's SK-47.

"He's dead now," said Brainy, "Look, we can smurf about this later. Just take this and follow me."

Brainy handed Papa Smurf the pistol and its required ammunition, he hesitantly took the weapon and stuff the ammunition in his pants, "Who else is down here?"

"The Smurflings, including Chernov's two kids."

"Oh dear, this isn't going to be smurfy."

**. . .**

"Come on!" ordered Chernov, "Push through!"

"I'm coming as fast as I can," cried Gizmo, "These damn tanks are to fast!"

Chernov led his squad and division right behind the armored division as the red smurfs' defenses pelt the ground and snow around them with bullets. The Reznov tanks helped took most of the blunt as they fired away at the walls, managing to smash a hole through it. With the fort's wall breached, the tanks pushed forward and squeezed through the small gap. The infantry jogged behind as the tanks cleared the way for the POW compound, one of the tanks was kind enough to blow a hole through the side building, revealing a small room in the process. Chernov led his squad into the building and signaled to the rest of his conscripts to continue the assault, "So what's the plan Chernov?" asked Rachael.

"We set our blue buddies free, simple as that. We clear the building from all hostiles, then we bust open the cages. By the time we get all of this done, hopefully we have an evac ready to take a portion of the blue smurfs outta here."

"Hopefully," said Rachael, "I hope Mama's okay."

"And our kids, they may be down there with the others for all I can tell."

Chernov kicked down the door of the room and stuck his head into the hall, "Clear," he said, "Keep sharp, red smurfs like to ambush their prey."

The squad went down the hall and made their way to the main hallway, Chernov had his squad slow down as they approached the door at the end of it. He opened it ajar and saw red smurfs barricading the main entrance. _Cowards_, he thought, _Just plain cowards._

Chernov pulled out a stick grenade and set off its fuse, he cooked it for a quick few seconds and tossed it into the room. He slammed the door shut and had everyone stepped back, a second later the grenade exploded. A flash of light and a puff of smoke made its way through the gaps of the door as red smurfs inside screamed in pain, Chernov opened the door wide open and found some of the red smurfs on the ground bleeding. He held up his RS-100 with one hand and shot them all in the head, "Weapons free!" he ordered.

The squad pushed into the room and spotted some red smurfs at the end of the hallway, both sides sought cover and exchanged gunfire. Thanks to the attachment sights Chad had made, the green smurfs managed to kill the attacking red smurfs with superior accuracy and efficiency, "Clear." said Jack.

They pushed through into the POW barracks and encountered some more red smurfs, they were putting up a hefty resistance. Despite the difficulty, the squad managed to push through and fight the red smurfs back, "They don't seem to wanna give up the blue smurfs so easily." said Tesla.

"We must hurry," said Chernov, "They could be executing them."

After pushing through some twist and turns, the squad reached the end of a single hallway and bust through the door at the end, "Whoa," said Rachael, "This must be it."

They're now in the prison quarters, each cell probably containing a blue smurf. Chernov was stunned that there were several sets of balconies above him, each row containing the same number of cells. He rushed up to one and spot a blue smurf inside, the smurf's eyes were scared, he pounded on the door desperate to get out. Chernov tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge, "Damn door won't open," he said, "We gotta find the switch that opens them."

"We gotta get up to the third row," said Tesla as he looked up at the balconies, "There, that's gotta be it."

Tesla pointed his finger up above them, Chernov looked up and saw what appeared to be the control room, "Okay," said Chernov, "Let's move up some levels, watch yoru six."

The squad ran over to the stairs of the balconies and started to climb them, several more red smurfs spot them and started firing away. It was hard to shoot at the red smurfs who were above and below them at once, sure enough Chernov felt a round pelt him on the chest. The sheer pain was dulled by the adrenaline, even though the bullet failed to penetrate Chernov's jacket he felt the area start to swell.

Climbing up several more stairs, the squad finally reached the third row of all the balconies. After taking out several more red smurfs, they rushed to the door of the control room and got into position at its sides, "You're ready for this?" asked Chernov.

"Yeah." said Rachael.

"Kick it down." said Gizmo.

Chernov stepped back from the door, then charged. He gave the door a sharp kick and its hinges broke, as the door was falling flat onto the floor, the red smurfs inside were caught off guard when Chernov unloaded an entire clip into them both. They both collapsed and slumped onto the floor within seconds, "Clear." he announced.

The squad made it inside and looked around the place, "A lot of switchboards and computers," said Tesla, "This may even be the security room."

The green smurfs can see the CRT televisions were indeed connected to many cameras throughout the building, the camera angles were badly placed, no wonder the red smurfs were surprised. Chernov approach the control panel underneath the glass windows overlooking the POW jail cells, a red button caught his eye, the message above it says that it opens all of the cell doors in case of an emergency.

_Well this is an emergency_, thought Chernov, _Why not press it?_

"This may be the button to open the doors," he said, "Here it goes."

Chernov pressed the button with the palm of his hand, an alarm sounded as all of the cell doors slid open in unison.

**. . .**

Seeing the cell door open made Hefty curious. He got up from his bed and stuck his head through the door. He discovered all of the cell doors were opened as well, his fellow smurfs were quickly taking noticed of the irony. With all the explosions and gunfire echoing through the walls, he immediately knew the chaos that was unfolding. When he saw the green smurfs at the security room at the high levels, he realized rescue had arrived.

When Hefty stepped out of the cell door, something caught his eye. He karate chopped an incoming red smurf's hand as he tried to nail Hefty with the butt of his assault rifle, the red smurf yelp as he dropped his gun onto the metal floor. Hefty grabbed the red smurf's trenchcoat collar and gave him a sharp punch in the face, the red smurf returned the punch by performing a blow to Hefty's stomach. Hefty shrugged off the blow and smashed the red smurf onto the wall, using all his might he slammed the red smurf into the safety rails and thrown him over the balcony. The red smurf screamed as he fell to the first floor, the screaming stopped by a satisfying bone-crushing thud.

Hefty took a moment to catch his breath, he looked over the safety rails and saw the red smurf laying face first at the bottom. One of his legs was twisted the wrong way as blood poured out of his mouth, _Whoa, _thought Hefty, _That is disturbing._

He glanced at the SK-47 dropped by the red smurf, Hefty couldn't remember how many times he had taken the butt of that weapon to the head and shoulders. So many that it probably left bruises, he will not be hit by this weapon in a melee fashion anymore. Hefty picked up the weapon by its gun sling and placed his hands on its grips, holding the weapon made Hefty feel an overwhelming surge of power. Strangely, it felt somewhat wrong.

"Hefty!" cried out a familiar voice.

Hefty looked up and saw Handy jogging over to him, "What's going on?" he asked.

"Why not ask the green smurfs up there?"

Handy looked up at the security room and saw the green smurfs talking to each other, "Oh thank smurf! Rescue, finally!"

Hefty and Handy made their way up the stairs and walked towards the security room, he saw the door was kicked down and two dead red smurfs laying on their back and sides at the back room. The green smurfs there too notice and held their weapons ready, Chernov was there, he simply smiled as he held out his hand, "Pleasure to see you once again Hefty."

"Nice to see you too Chernov," said Hefty as he shook Chernov's hand, "How you're doing?"

"Horrible, until I saw your mug."

The green smurfs chuckled and Hefty laughed as well, "It was bad enough being here," he said, "Its been awhile since I heard smurfy humor."

"I'll say," said Handy, "You're getting us out of here Chernov?"

"That's why I'm here," said Chernov, "You guys are more trouble than you worth."

"Oh Chernov," said Hefty, "I need to tell you something."

"What is it Hefty?"

"Baldwin's dead, he was captured by the red smurfs a week ago and they just executed him in response to the bombing three days ago."

Chernov's expression dropped, "Oh sh*t, I hadn't expected that."

"What about Cherskey and Nelly?" asked Rachael, "Are they okay?"

"They to were next to be executed, but somehow they defied the odds and escaped after they were shot. They had serious will and determination, I think they got it from you Chernov. That probably saved their lives."

"So they're not here... Crap. They must be out in the forest nearby, do they have serious injuries?"

"Cherskey's bleeding at the shoulder as Nelly was limping badly. When they got away, they sure divided the red smurf leaders. I even saw the officer yelled at the general for it all, it was awe inspiring."

"So they have some leaders after all," said Jack, "Changing the subject a little bit, where are the rest of the smurfs Hefty?"

"I don't know where Papa Smurf was, I hadn't seen him at all since the day before our capture. But I did see Grandpa Smurf along with the Smurflings being taken into the massive building in the center of the fort. The rest of the smurfs are probably in the mines, extracting this plaster substance."

"Is there a way into the mines?" asked Chernov.

"There's a series of tunnels leading directly into it, the mines go deep underneath Fort Romanov. There is a tunnel entrance outside the POW compound, wedged in between the POW compound and what's left of the infirmary."

"Is there anymore smurfs around here?"

"There are a few more in the cells, we'll gather them all up."

"Let's not waste anymore time chatting, let's move."

The group left the security room and went from cell to cell to look for more smurfs, sure enough the found a dozen more blue smurfs. Hefty confirmed the number of smurfs who were still locked up and Chernov had everyone to follow him. The smurfs were scared and full of doubt, yet the green smurfs pressed on, "Where we going?" asked one of the smurfs.

"We're heading to the main entrance," said Chernov, "The tank divisions should had cleared out most of the red smurfs outside by now."

Along the way, the smurfs saw the bodies of the reds here and there. They were having trouble stomaching the sight, when they reached the main entrance they saw what looked like a bloody mess everywhere, "Everybody get into that room over there," said Chernov, "Gizmo, help me move these furniture."

As everyone head into the side room, Chernov and Gizmo took down the barricade piece by piece. Hefty sat on a chair and watch Gizmo moved the bodies of red smurfs they killed off to the side, Chernov grabbed some ammunition off the bodies and tossed a couple of clips to Hefty, "You'll might need these." he said.

"Okay." said Hefty as he pocketed the ammunition.

Chernov turned to the rest of the smurfs, "Does anyone want a gun?"

Handy raised his hand, so Chernov handed him an SK-47 and its ammo. He pocketed most of the ammunition and reloaded the weapon as Chernov resumed helping Gizmo clear out the barricade, once the door were clear. Gizmo and Chernov stepped to the side with them, "This is going to be tricky," he said, "Opening a door without getting shot in the process is harder than it looks."

Chernov walked back to the doors and twist the knobs, he quickly pushed the doors wide open before running back to the group. Sure enough, some bullets struck the area where he once stood, "Damn," he cursed, "What's going on out there? I thought we're in the clear."

"Machine gun," said Lizzy as she looked out through the window, "Top balcony in that superior looking bunker. Oh crap, everybody drop!"

The green smurfs quickly drop to the floor as the blue smurfs quickly followed, a wave of bullets began passing through the windows, shattering them in tiny shards. Anything the spray of bullets struck was ground down to Swiss cheese and demolished. Hefty held his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, it was so loud that they were hurting his ear drums. When the spray of bullets ceased, Hefty looked up and saw a large maw where the windows and parts of the outer wall once stood. He glanced at the back of the wall and saw many holes through it from top to center, these red smurfs aren't letting up.

"We're pinned down," cried Chernov into his radio, "What's going on out there!"

"The red smurfs are cutting away our tanks from left and right," said Rick's voice, "Did you get the smurfs?"

"Some of them, the rest of the smurfs are in the underground mines and in the big-ass building with the fort's flag! Defense Secretary, Lieutenant Commander, I'll meet you both at that building once we get that machine gun taken care of."

"10-4." said Chad.

Chernov puts away his radio and groan, "Now we have to sit and wait until the outside is clear. Great, just great."

**. . .**

Brainy and Papa Smurf made their way throughout the dungeon, opening as many cells as possible. Some of the prison cells they had discovered weren't actually prison cells, rather than storage. With the threat of red smurfs searching for them, it made the paranoia at an all time high. Though Papa Smurf was getting tired, Brainy had plenty of energy in him. He knew his elders won't survive on their own here, their nature will lead to their downfall. Using unconventional methods such as using _human _tactics was necessary for the situation, Brainy accepted it, but he wasn't sure Papa Smurf had.

He was still complaining about firearms and all the running, his leadership willingness had dulled from being imprisoned all this time. Brainy felt sorry for him, he hoped it his wisdom hadn't been affected.

After searching many of the rooms, Brainy opened his 175th. Inside was Grandpa Smurf, sitting in the back of the white empty room. His head was down, the old smurf appeared weak and was in bad shape, "Papa Smurf," Brainy called out, "I found him!"

Papa Smurf ran into the room and rushed over to Grandpa Smurf, he got to his knees and held his papa smurf's head up to eye level, "Grandpa," he said, "Are you okay?"

Grandpa Smurf's eyes showed confusion, he blinked twice before responding, "What happened," he asked, "I knew I was captured a few minutes ago..."

"You had been trapped in here for two weeks Grandpa Smurf." said Brainy.

"Oh now I remember, time goes by fast. Those reds didn't do to much to me, they left me be."

"You gotta get up," said Papa Smurf, "We're getting out of here."

"We gotta find the Smurflings first," said Brainy, "They gotta be around here somewhere?"

"Are you sure they're down here?"

"I saw them take the Smurflings along with Grandpa Smurf, but I don't know where."

"Help!" cried a voice, "Someone help!"

"Snappy?"

Brainy ran back out into the hall and followed the pounding of a little fist, he opened the door next door to Grandpa Smurf and Snappy fell right onto Brainy's feet, "I'm so glad to see you!" he cried.

Snappy had bruises covering his arms and face, his yellow shirt was dirty and his smurf hat and pants was much worse, Brainy pat Snappy's head and sighed, "Don't worry, we're getting you outta here."

As Papa Smurf helped Grandpa Smurf out of the room, Brainy left Snappy with them and opened the next few doors. He found Nat in the cell across from Snappy's, he too was covered with bruises and filth, "Thank you." he said as he ran out.

Next he opened the next cell and found Slouchy, his appearance was just as bad as everyone else but his expression showed calmness. He calmly got up from the floor and walked out of the room, "They were going to interrogate me," he said, "The red smurfling, he smurfed this to all of us."

"Nat, Slouchy!" cried Snappy, "Oh smurf, you guys are okay!"

"Wait," said Nat, "Where's Sassette?"

Brainy opened the next few doors, she wasn't in the next few rooms at all, "I do remember Baby Smurf was somewhere about," said Grandpa Smurf, "Does anyone know where he is?"

"No," said Brainy, "You know, I hadn't even seen him at all during my stay here."

"We pretty much searched this place clean Brainy," said Papa Smurf, "Sassette and Baby Smurf are nowhere to be seen. We gotta get out of here, is there a way out?"

"I think up the stairs," said Brainy, "But the main floor is probably crawling with red smurfs at the moment. But before we leave, there is something we must take care of."

"What?" asked Papa Smurf.

"Dragovich, Adrian Dragovich. He's here, I know it!"

"I met him in person, it didn't gone well. Calm on Brainy, we got to find a way out."

"Not until we get Dragovich, we gotta defeat him!"

"I think there's no way out," said Grandpa Smurf, "We might get slaughtered if we get back outside, so searching for this Dragovich character may be an opportunity worth taking."

"The fact that we only encountered 2 red smurfs awhile down here made me wondered if they're clearing out."

"We'll find out once we get upstairs."

"This way," said Grandpa Smurf, "I know where they'd taken me through."

The group followed Grandpa Smurf as he led the way, despite walking without his cane he managed to maintain his balance. It wasn't long before he showed the smurfs the stairs, "I take it from here Grandpa," said Brainy, "They might be reds up there."

Brainy walked up to the top of the stairs and found a door, he opened the door and peaked out of it. There was only a couple of red smurfs, one red smurf was clutching to his bleeding face as he tried to drag his comrade with the other arm, Brainy aimed his SK-47 at the red smurfs and opened fire. They were cut down within seconds and slumped to the floor dead, "Clear." said Brainy.

He waited for the group to get up to the main floor, when they saw the bodies they were shocked, "I knew this day would come," said Grandpa Smurf, "A day when we have to take lives to save lives, it ain't smurfy one bit."

"Come on," said Brainy, "This way."

With the sound of gunfire and explosions now louder than ever before, the smurfs hurried along and followed Brainy. They made their way up another flight of stairs, passing several signs in the process. Brainy checked each sign, he kept heading up the stairs until he found what he was looking for, "Elite Level, we're here."

Brainy kicked down the door to the floor and rushed on through, the place appeared abandoned recently. Whoever was here, they had cleaned up shop before running for the hills. Brainy went through all the signs next to the doors, that's when he found the sign that said, "General Office."

"Here." said Brainy.

"This is it?" said Papa Smurf.

"The leader of the red smurf's office, most of our questions will be answered here."

"How do you know that this is Dragovich's office?"

"They did something to me, somehow I can understand Russian. I'll explain later."

Brainy opened the door and stuck his head in, the massive room of the office was trashed. Most of the windows were broken, glass and paper littered the floor. The blinds had been torn, a chair was toppled over, and a couple of filing cabinets also laid on their sides. Brainy spot the red smurf on the balcony behind the desk, operating what seemed to be a machine gun. He spot a knife on the floor, just near Dragovich's desk. Using the noise for cover, Brainy walked up to the knife and picked it up. He strapped the SK-47 to his shoulder and tiptoed behind the red smurf.

"Brainy," whispered Papa Smurf, "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer, he ran up behind the red smurf and grabbed the red smurf by his trenchcoat collar, then he plunged the knife into the red smurf's neck. Blood squirted out through the punctured wound as the red smurf tried to scream. He couldn't, his mouth and throat was filled with his own blood. Brainy held onto the red smurf until he stopped struggling, then tossed him over the balcony.

"For smurf's sake!" cried Papa Smurf.

Brainy tossed the knife over the balcony and looked at Papa Smurf in the eyes, "Does it look like I have a choice?" he asked.

"You could have just knocked him out Brainy, you don't have to kill him."

"Papa Smurf," said Grandpa Smurf as he put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't you ever wonder what that red smurf might be shooting at?"

Brainy looked over the balcony and saw what appeared to be green smurf troops down below, he thought he could make out Chernov from the distance at the POW headquarters, "My smurf," he said, "Our friends are down there, the green smurfs came to rescue us."

"That explains the racket." said Snappy.

"Quick, barricade that door. I'll try to signal them, somehow."

"Brainy," said Nat, "Here."

Nat tossed Brainy a small hand-held mirror, "This looked like this is designed for signaling, where did you get it?"

"It was sitting on the desk Brainy."

"Oh, okay then."

**. . .**

"Its stopped." said Rick.

"No sh*t," said Chernov, "Who wants to take a look?"

No one raised their hand.

"Fine, I'll take a look."

Chernov grumbled as he stuck his head up and looked outside, he managed to see what looked like a small flashing where the machine gun was. Their was a frequency to the flashing, constantly going away and coming back. It was a signal! "Binoculars." said Chernov.

Jack handed him binoculars and Chernov used them to zoom in at the signal's source, he saw a blue smurf with glasses holding a mirror in his hand, "It's Brainy," said Chernov, "How did he get up there!"

"Let me see." said Hefty.

Chernov handed the binoculars to Hefty and he took a look for himself, "Yup, that's Brainy."

"He's trying to signal us." said Lizzy.

"This is a bad area for us for sunlight," said Chernov, "So let's improvise."

He simply got up to his feet and gave him a wave, "He's waving back," said Hefty, "We gotta get over there."

"Right." said Chernov.

He got out his radio and held it to his face, "We have confirmed friendlies in the largest building in Fort Romanov, avoid damage to the structure whatsoever."

"Copy." said Rick.

"Defense Secretary." said Chernov.

"Copy Wunderwaffe." said Chad.

"I have retrieved some of our primary targets in the POW bunker, they say there's more underground beneath Fort Romanov. You get down there and rescue them all, we are _not _leaving behind one single precious cargo!"

"I hear you loud and clear Wunderwaffe, heading underground to retrieve primary targets. I'll meet you in the large building once I'm done."

"Copy. Lieutenant Commander, meet me at the large bunker. Over."

"Copy Wunderwaffe," said Rick, "Heading to rendezvous point."

Chernov put his radio away and turned towards his squad, "Let's move out comrades, follow my lead."

"I have a question Chernov." said Hefty.

"What is it?"

"Why do you use nicknames when using the radio?"

"Just in case the red smurfs are eavesdropping on our comms, we used _nicknames_ to prevent them from understanding the subject."

"Oh..."

The squad and the blue smurfs quickly got up and followed Chernov out through the main entrance, he led them to the sides of the red smurf bunkers as they ran towards the large building. Even though a wide paved area sat between the POW bunker and the large building, the whole area was crawling with both friendlies and hostiles. Chernov was more concerned of the blue smurfs getting shot at than the rest of his half-siblings, due reason that the blue smurfs were the sole reason why they're here in enemy territory. He can't risk getting them killed, it would bring failure to the mission. He should had thought of his promise of getting them out more wisely.

So running down passing enemy buildings and forces made him nervous, the common sight of smurfs at the moment was red and green. A blue smurf would inevitably stand out, which makes them targets to red smurfs. They always have an uncanny habit of attacking non-combatants.

Surprisingly the squad and the small group of blue smurfs managed to make it through all that chaos happening around them, Chernov look back and saw red smurfs getting cut to shreds by green smurf guns. Blood and body parts were flying everywhere as the Reznov tanks foolishly used their main guns at them, it was more horrifying than he dared imagine. He saw Chad's Juggernaut division do most of the dirty work, they were simply walking along, firing away with their 2 mm machine guns. Bullets were bouncing off of them like crazy, the red smurfs were quite horrified to see them calmly strutting towards them. They ran before they were filled with bullets.

_You're doing a good job Judd,_ thought Chernov, _Lucky._

He turned his attention back to the large building and found that the main entrance was wide open, a red smurf whose throat appeared to be slit was lying dead before the main door. The splatter of the blood around the red smurf suggest it fell from the balcony above, did Brainy do that? Might as well ask him himself, "Move!" he ordered.

Chernov started running towards the open doors as everyone followed behind at his speed, they managed to get inside without being shot at remarkably. Once they're inside, they saw a couple of bodies lying on the floor in the center of a hallway, "Looks like they secured the place for us." said Jack.

Without warning, they began to hear screaming. It sounded like a child. Everyone was dumbstruck when they saw a red smurfing dragging away Sassette out of the door and into the hall, "Get over here if you know what's good for you!" cursed the red smurfing.

"You know we're right here, right?" asked Chernov.

The red smurfling shot a look at the squad, it was panic. He ringed his arm around Sassette's neck and pulled out a pistol, just as the red smurf aimed it at them someone fired a shot. The red smurfling's head shot back and he collapsed to the ground, Sassette just stood there in complete shock. Chernov looked around and saw Hefty, aiming his SK-47 at her with the barrel still smoking, "Well that got him," said Hefty as he held down his weapon, "You're alright Sassette?"

Sassette cried as she ran towards them, Rachael strapped her assault rifle to her back and picked Sassette up as she came near, "Its okay," she said as she cradled her head, "I got you."

"He was going to do horrible stuff to me," sobbed Sassette, "They'd been all doing horrible stuff to me!"

"We got you Sassette," said Chernov, he then turned towards the rest of the squad, "Let's go, up the stairs!"

The squad ran up the stairs and made their way up the floors, Chernov counted each floor. Each window outside should match the floor, he made his way up to what he believed was the floor the smurfs on and led his squad down the hall, "Brainy," Rachael hcalled out, "Where are you!"

A door open and the green smurfs readied their weapons, only to lower them when they realized it was Papa Smurf, "It's okay Chernov," he said, "We're fine."

"Pappy!" cried Sassette.

"Sassette, we were looking for you!"

"I was looking for you," said Chernov, "I see you made it out alive and unhurt."

"Was it you causing all that racket?"

"I'm risking the lives of my own smurfs to save yours, this is a very risky gamble I had made. I hope it is worth the cost."

Chernov had his squad head inside the room as Chernov shut the door behind him, "Snappy, Nat, Slouchy!" cried Sassette.

"Sassette!" cried the Smurflings in unison.

Rachael let Sassette down and she ran towards the Smurflings for their quick reunion, it was heartbreaking to watch.

"So what did they do to you when they capture you Paps?" asked Chernov.

"They put me in solitary confinement," said Papa Smurf, "Very unsmurfy experience."

"Why did they isolate you?"

"They think I was too old to work, or that's what they told me."

"Chernov," cried Brainy as he rushed up to him, "Thank smurf you came!"

"Good to see you Brainy, you wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah, I'd been waiting for this for awhile now!"

Chernov walked up to the window and looked outside, he saw the green smurfs breaking the blue smurfs out of the mines and getting them to safety. They had brought in the vertibirds and were loading them with the blue buddies before carrying them off to safety, "Looks like the evacs had begun," said Chernov, he turned towards Papa Smurf, "Do you know who the red smurf leader is?"

"Someone named Adrian Dragovich, this is his office to be exact."

"Well then, guys clear this place out of useful intel."

"Yes sir!" said the green smurfs in unison.

They quickly searched the place for documents, but found the cabinets cleared out, "Empty," said Lizzy as she kicked one of the cabinet doors shut, "They're all empty."

"Wunderwaffe," said a voice on the radio, "This is Euro Eagle, over." Euro Eagle was the call sign of a green smurf spy plane pilot.

Chernov got onto the radio, "Go ahead Euro Eagle."

"We got a large number of enemy reinforcement heading your way, you best wrap up the mission and get home as fast as you can!"

"Understood, Euro Eagle."

Chernov puts the radio away and sighed, "Okay guys, let's move out. The evacs are waiting for us."

Before they left Chernov found something on top of a desk, it was a manila folder. He picked it up and did a quick skim through it, "Rachael," he said, "Hold onto this."

"Okay Chernov." she said.

Rachael stashed the folder into her backpack and the squad left the room, just when they got downstairs they encountered Rick and his own personal squad, "You got what you came for?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Chernov, "Let's get out of here, drinks are on the house tonight."

Some of the green smurfs cheered as they left the building, just as they stepped outside Chernov heard a gunshot. The bullet struck him hard in the chest, he gasp as he felt one of his ribs break. He grabbed his chest, as he lost his balance. Rachael caught him in time before he fell, "Chernov!" she cried.

"I'm hit!" he cried, "Let's get outta here!"

"Wunderwaffe, you better get outta there!" screamed Euro Eagle on the radio, "They're right outside Fort Romanov, they're setting up their artillery equipment!"

"Oh goddamnit," cursed Rick as he got onto his radio, "Wunderwaffe has been shot, requesting an evac."

"Negative," said Chad, "AA guns had been set up, there will be no more air support at this time."

"Hey guys!" called out a voice from a distance.

Everyone looked up and saw Judd, wearing his Juggernaut suit as he waved them over. The group hurried along towards him, Rachael tried his best to support Chernov but he wasn't holding up to well. He saw his own blood create a trail behind him, the damn bullet sure made a mess of his insides.

"Oh crap," said Judd when he saw Chernov injured, "Are you going to make it bro?"

"I would if I make it out of here." he said.

Without warning, a loud explosion occurred behind them, followed by another, and another. "Move, move, move!" cried Rick.

The group managed to make a run for it, but Chernov was struggling to keep up. It wasn't long before Rachael picked him up and ran off with the group with him, his bullet wound felt worse from her heroic attempt. He vaguely noticed them leave Fort Romanov as the whole place was going up into smoke, many green smurfs were running in all directions along with the blue smurfs they managed to rescue. Several vertibirds flew by overhead, trying to get away from the chaos unfolding behind them.

By the time the group got to the woods, Rachael was getting tired. Just when it all seem to be in the clear, an artillery shell crashed nearby and Chernov flew out her arms. He felt some shrapnel ripping through him, Chernov rolled a couple of times before stopping. That's when the world went black.

**. . .**

"Chernov!" cried Rachael.

She tried to crawl towards him, trying to retrieve him. But the shell had dulled her eyes and ears, she couldn't focused where he landed. Without warning, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her away from him, "Come on," she heard Rick's voice, "Let's get outta here!"

"But Chernov!" she insist.

"He's gone Rachael, he's gone. The artillery shell cut him up to shred, do you even know that you're bleeding yourself?"

"No."

Rachael struggled to keep up with Rick and the group, he nearly dragged her but she managed to keep up, "Wunderwaffe is neutralized," said Rick, "All forces return to base, we'll figure out a new plan once things cool down. Over and out!"

When Rachael's vision cleared up, she saw Rick put the radio away, "Come on sis, hurry up."

She was too tired to resist, Rachael reluctantly followed Rick along with her siblings and her blue buddies. All in the while Chernov was on her mind.

"What happened," asked Papa Smurf, "I heard something explode and Rachael screaming."

"Artillery shell killed Chernov," said Lizzy, "We can't carry him outta here, there's just no time!"

"Great smurfs, oh smurfs this is bad."

"It would be worse if we stay," said Tesla, "Hurry up old timer, we don't have time to waste."

****END OF ACT II****


	31. Act III: Chapter XXXI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXI_

Hell was over, for now. Even though the Battle of Fort Romanov had been a major victory, it came with a horrible cost. At least 15 green smurfs, including Chernov, were dead. At least 50 green smurfs had been injured during the fight, the infirmary today was packed almost to capacity. As Chernov had hoped, no blue smurf had been killed, but some had sustained injuries during their stay at Fort Romanov. They were being treated with care, their wounds and broken bones bandaged by precise green smurfs hands. They weren't taken care of at the infirmary though, the sight there was more gruesome than the actual battlefield.

Rick found himself in an odd position, he was Chernov's second-in-command. Which means he must take the role as Supreme Commander. When he got back from the mission, he went straight to the Command Center hoping Dashie would be there. When he arrived, he found it empty. He went around the Colony for half an hour looking for Dashie, she was nowhere to be found. Stumped, he returned to the Command Center and turned on his Ham radio. Rick took a deep breath and exhaled, he best make it happen.

"Fellow brothers and sisters," he said, "This is Lieutenant Commander Richard Reznov speaking. I would like to report the Battle of Fort Romanov to be a success, we managed to get all the smurfs trapped under the Red Menace's oppressive rule. Sadly though, we might be grief stricken for awhile. Even though we won, Supreme Commander Chernov Reznov, along with 15 other green smurfs, were KIA," KIA means Killed In Action, "I had already lost a friend, now I lost another. I... Oh god, I'm sorry. This is such a sudden shock, I saw him died before my very eyes. First a sniper's bullet hit him in chest, then an artillery shell finished him off.

"With Chernov gone, I would soon be appointed as Supreme Commander, which means I'm going to inherit all the problems Chernov had on his shoulders. I would take the position around noon tomorrow, and I won't like it one bit. To make it worse, Chernov's children Cherskey and Nelly Reznov are still missing. The smurfs say they had escaped but suffered serious injuries along the way. Once I had been fully briefed on the whereabouts of the red smurfs, we will soon know how the reacted to our surprise attack. This is Richard Reznov, signing off."

Rick turned off the HAM radio and left the Command Center, he was in no mood do talk on that radio as he used to. He wanted to check on a few people, Smurfette and Rachael. He head over to the spider hole where she was staying, Rick found her being attended by Lizzy and Chad. Smurfette had suffered more abuse than the other smurfs. Her body was covered from head to toe in bruises, cuts, and bandages. She looked worse for wear, yet she made it out alive. Smurfette had already washed and wash changed into proper clothing, now she was sleeping on a cot as Chad and Lizzy watch her.

"How is she?" asked Rick.

"She's doing fine," said Chad, "Was talking earlier, told us about her stay in Fort Romanov."

"Mama said that she had been crudely handled by the red smurfs," said Lizzy, "Told us of all the nasty stuff they did to her, I couldn't bear to listen to it all. I just can't."

"Will she be okay?"

"Yeah," said Chad, "She'll be fine."

"I'll be seeing you guys later, I'll go check on Rachael."

"Okay then, bye."

Rick left the spiderhole and headed over to the one Chernov and Rachael had been staying in since the smurf's kidnapping, he found her crying as she sat back against the wall of the spiderhole. She had some used tissues everywhere and a trash can full of them. Her upper left arm had been bandaged after taking shrapnel in that area, her physical wounds were the least of her concerns at the moment "Rachael," said Rick, "I need your help."

She looked up at him as he sat next to her, "Look Rachael, I missed him too. He knew what he signed up for."

"He did." she sobbed.

Rick wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she rest her head against him, "You have experience shared to you by Chernov, I'm going to need as much as you can get me."

"He's just gone in a single blow, if only we brought his body back."

"There wasn't much you can do Rachael, Chernov was done for."

"I know, I just can't leave him there."

"You did your best Rachael, right now we have more important things at stake."

Rick new it doesn't take much to cheer Rachael up, Chernov taught him that. He and Rachael soon got up to their feet, she sniffled as she rubbed one of her eyes, "First my kids, now Chernov. As if fate had ripped my family apart."

"Not everyone Rachael," said Rick, "You're kids are still out there surviving on their own, there's still hope for them."

"We don't know how long they had been gone."

"We'll get this mess sorted out Rachael, where's that file Chernov gave you?"

"Oh, I think it's still in my backpack."

Rachael opened up her backpack and pulled out the file, she handed it to Rick and he opened it up, "To the looks of this," he said, "I think we may be on to something."

He sat the file down on the bed and went through the documents written in Russian, he stopped at a particular photograph. It was a picture of a double-helix statue, beneath the statue it reads: _Schtroumpf __Reznovus._

"Look at that helix," said Rachael, "It must be made out of bronze or something."

"Yeah but this," Rick pointed to the two words beneath, "What the hell does _Schtroumpf __Reznovus _mean?"

"Wanna ask Papa Smurf?" said Rachael.

"Sure," said Rick, "With Chernov gone, his wisdom will be depend on heavily."

**. . .**

Laura skipped through the snow as more snowflakes fall from the gray skies, Norman and Henry struggled to keep up with their little sister as they fought their way through the snow that was trying to devour them, "Wait up!" groaned Norman.

"Come on Laura," insisted Henry, "Wait for us!"

Laura had been in a good mood lately, winter seem to help bring out her creativity. At times she would create forts out of the snow, crafting them into structures for her and her friends to play. Things were looking good this week, she hoped the snow will never melt.

"I swear Laura," said Norman, "Wait up!"

Her brothers were constantly calling her, she continued to ignore them. Laura kept running, her lower center mass prevented her from sinking completely into the snow. She ran past several trees, jumping over some fallen logs, and even skimmed past a frozen creek. If she's lucky, she might loose her brothers in all that snow. Laura giggled, _Sounds like a plan._

She ran past several bushes and past some more trees, just when Laura reached into a clearing the world gave without warning. Laura yelped as she fell into a cavity, she hit the ground on her knees and slumped onto her sides. It wasn't that deep, so she was alright. Laura climbed back onto her feet and realized what she had really fell into, _A crater,_ she thought, _Had a meteorite landed here?_

Indeed it was a crater, black soot and debris in and around the crater told Laura that it came from above. Looking around some more, she saw several trees shattered at their base and toppled over. There were more craters nearby, all of them were similar to the one she fell in. Had a meteor shower done this? There was no sign of any meteorites anywhere, they must had been destroyed after impacting the ground. She walked through the destruction and discovered several small animal tracks all over the place, but they don't look like the familiar rabbits that were living near her home.

"Laura," cried Norman, "For the last time, WAIT UP!"

Laura ignored him and continued walking, there was something sinister here, she can feel it. The air smelled somewhat rotten, the wind still, everything was dead as they can be. She soon discovered more unnatural tracks, it looked like small wagons had gone across here, but some of the tracks had a bigger imprint that no wagon wheel can create, _Aliens? _Laura thought.

Whatever was here was long gone, or so what it seemed. Laura kept walking and found crimson stains and drag marks embedded in the snow, were the aliens hurt? She followed the trail of crimson spots and came across a tiny humanoid creature partially embedded in the snow just underneath a tree. It's skin was green, was it from Mars? No, its clothes, they look... familiar. Following her instincts and curiosity, she grabbed a nearby stick and poked the small green humanoid with it. The creature stirred. Laura jumped back.

It's eyes fluttered open, they were weak and tired. They were pointed towards Laura's own eyes, the wheezed as the stretched out a hand towards here. The snow covering the creature sheds off, revealing more features including brown hair on its head, "H- Help..." it wheezed, the creature was no doubt a boy, "Me... please..."

Laura could hear Norman and Henry coming up from behind, "Finally you stopped," said Henry, "We were-"

Henry stopped when he saw the creature, "Laura, what did you find?"

"I don't know," said Laura, "But he needs help!"

"I know you," said the creature, "We met before... you gotta... remember."

The creatures started to crawl towards Laura, but wound up plowing his face into the snow. She picked him up and brushed off the remaining snow, Laura saw that the creature was covered with shrapnel wounds, "Wait a minute," said Norman, "Oh now I remember, I think it's Chernov. Right? He help us find Cuddles, remember?"

Cuddles was a green smurfette who lives with Laura and her family, she was a fat and happy _domesticated _green smurf who got a lot of love and attention from everyone. Laura remembered picking Cuddles out in the Pet Shop and taking her home, she was soon lost, but returned by her half-brother. Which happens to be Chernov. Realizing the connection, Laura held Chernov close to her jacket and he pressed his head against her chest, "We gotta get him help!" she cried.

"Let's get back home," said Norman, "Dad would know what to do!"

The three siblings started for home, running as fast as they can. With a little life hanging on a thread in her hands, Laura wanted to return the favor for helping find Cuddles. Even though she knows him, she had no idea how _wild _green smurfs would react in human captivity. Laura was soon going to find out.

**. . .**

High up in the atmosphere, a S2 spy plane cruise at a speed of 1,000 KPH. Relatively fast for a plane slightly larger than a modeled one. Fugere sat in the cockpit as she sailed through the sky, she shifted around in her seat as her butt was falling asleep. She had been in the air for at least 7 hours, and still her mission was not yet over. Despite already accomplishing her mission in overlooking the Battle of Fort Romanov, Fugere still needed to track the red smurf army's retreat before they're heading home.

She was lucky to fly the S2, it had recently been developed by green smurf technicians to perform espionage deep inside of enemy territory. It wasn't flown much in the past, since only two had ever been build. But that was when Gregory was Secretary of Defense, he never saw a use for spyplanes to begin with. When Chad took over however, he saw the important potential they had and ordered more to be built. For Fugere, that meant less time in the air and more time on the ground. _Thank god._

Fugere was now passing over Fort Romanov again for the billionth time, a camera on the nose of the plane received video footage from down below and sent it to a screen embedded in the dashboard. She saw a lot of fires and craters all over the fort, the buildings and walls had been destroyed. The massive building in the center of the fort was also annihilated. To the looks of everything, Fort Romanov was gone. The red smurfs had already grabbed what they could salvaged and fled, Fugere played around with the joystick that controlled the camera and discovered that they hadn't gotten far.

_What is that? _She wondered.

Thick black smoke filled the air over a forest, Fugere had seen wildfires from bird eye's view before but nothing like this. Looks like the red smurfs were pretty angry and are exerting their aggression on the environment nearby. Several deer and other four-legged animals were running for their life in all directions, red smurfs down below took careful aim with their guns and fired upon them at will. It was a massacre beyond proportions.

"Home Base," said Fugere, "This is Euro Eagle, over."

"Go ahead Euro Eagle." said Home Base on the radio.

"Enemy forces are burning down a forest, can you tell me why?"

"I don't know, it doesn't make any sense. Can you confirm it Euro Eagle?"

"Bro, I see red smurfs with their SK-47s shooting Bambi's family down there."

"They must be taking their anger on the local wildlife, Chernov sure did kicked the hornet's nest. Maybe we had destroyed their food supplies and are forced to restock hastily. I'll make note of this to the Command Center as soon as possible."

Without warning, an S-34 tank fired its main gun at a bear. The bear was shot in the face and its' head exploded like confetti, "Good lord," said Fugere, "It's getting worse down there."

"Observe the unrest for at least 20 minutes then return back home Euro Eagle."

"10-4, over and out."

**. . .**

Papa Smurf studied the picture closely in the Command Center, the look on his face told Rick that he had no clue what he was looking at, "I hadn't seen anything like it," said the village leader, "You said Chernov found this back in Dragovich's office?"

"Yeah," said Rachael, "But why did he picked it up?"

"Something had caught his eye, I never even noticed this until he laid a hand on it."

"Whatever it is," said Rick, "It may be a clue where Dragovich ran off to, or he could had left that file there on purpose just to throw us off our track."

"What about the name on the statue Pappy," said Rachael, "What does it mean?"

"_Schtroumpf _means Smurfs in French," said Papa Smurf, "But _Reznovus,_ I do not know."

"Its sounds a modified form of the green smurf's last name," said Rick, "Hm."

After thinking about it a good while, it hit him, "Maybe its a _scientific _name, the green smurf's official name as a species."

"Can we confirm that?" asked Rachael.

Rick pointed at the photo, "There's only two people who walk the earth that can figure it out. One of them is dead, and the other is on another continent. We'll have to make do what we have by going to the Colony's archives to see what we can dig up."

"Oh the library," said Rachael, "If only I had my card with me."

A loud electronic buzzing sound occurred, that was the computer. He rushed over to it, nearly knocking over a chair in the process as he examined the CRT screen:

URGENT MESSAGE: CLASSIFIED

TO: Lieutenant Commander Richard Reznov

FROM: Green Smurf Colony Air Force Command

S2 SPY PLANE CONFIRMED REPORTS SUGGEST RED SMURFS ARE DESTROYING THE ECOSYSTEM DURING THEIR RETREAT***NUMEROUS ANIMALS SLAIN, SEVERAL MORE KILLED AND POSSIBLY INJURED***NEUTRAL HUMANOID SETTLEMENTS MAY BE AT RISK***REQUEST PERMISSION FOR INVESTIGATION***

Rick read the message and typed back on the keyboard:

PERMISSION GRANTED***KEEP ME UPDATED

"The war isn't over," said Rick, "It's only just getting started."

"What do you mean?" asked Papa Smurf.

Rick turned to the village leader, "Do you have any friends in non-smurf civilizations, excluding humans?"

"To the smurfs, there are the Gnomes, the Elves, and the Pixies. The pixies are a bit common but I'm not sure how the others smurf. Why you ask?"

"They may be in the way of the red smurfs, the reds are already purging the forest near their former home."

"Could be what's left of the enemy reinforcements," said Rachael, "Is there anything we can do for those settlements?"

"We don't know if there are any settlements out there, all I know is animals are getting massacred. I do think that there are humans living nearby though, remember Laura?"

"Yes." said Papa Smurf and Rachael in unison.

"Her house is the closest to Fort Romanov, even though its well far away its still a bit of concern since one of our own lives there."

Rachael laugh, "Cuddles. I liked her, I miss her everyday. I'm still laughing about Chad's scandal with her."

"Its all rubbish. We'll go to the library and see what we can dig up, maybe Chernov left something behind that might help us finish off the red smurfs for good."

"I'm sorry about Chernov you two," said Papa Smurf, "Among all the trouble he went in to break my smurfs free and his selfless sacrifice."

"During the times he's here, his presence alone makes all the green smurfs work harder at their jobs. I bet green smurfs are missing being kicked in the rear by his boot, they always like getting on his nerves."

"How are you going to tell your father?"

"I don't know how to contact him, nor am I wiling to drag him into this mess. Let's get this file checked out, shall we?"

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	32. Act III: Chapter XXXII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXII_

"You have a plan Comrade General?" asked Colonel Izotov.

"Yeah, I do have a plan."

General Dragovich slumped down into his camping chair and kicked his legs out, "It's called making a temporary camp before we get to the more permanent camp."

Izotov sat next to him as a small campfire burns before him, surrounding them were brown tarp tents with red stars on them. They had managed to round up a couple of red smurf regiment and a couple dozen Spetsnaz conscripts during the retreat, everyone was pissed yet some were relieved to be in the outdoors again. The subordinates were tired of cramped quarters, awful food, and working to maintain the expensive bunkers they live in. With all that gone, they now felt freer and more mobile. _Surprisingly they hadn't defected yet, _Dragovich thought, _Even my senior officers hadn't lost it._

He sipped some hot tea as he stared into the fire, "Where is this more permanent camp Dragovich?" asked Izotov.

"Its in a mountain. If you ever wonder where we get more soldiers, they start off there for training first before coming to Fort Romanov."

"So you had been keeping secrets from me."

"I had kept _some _secrets from you, but once you actually see this place you'll find I have little secrets left. All my magic is worked there, had been for awhile now."

"Yeah, a long while."

Dragovich had some plans for Colonel Alexander Izotov, for the past few days he had become more resistive. How can he blame him for that? It all seemed to be going wrong from the start, Izotov, his most important officer, was now at the tipping point. He overheard him talking to Sergei about getting secrets from Oleg, _his _secrets. General Dragovich will not tolerate it, so Oleg had to be taken care of as well. But what about Sergei, his oldest friend? The lad can no longer take it, his heart was too sensitive for bloodshed. Seeing him lock up like that made him wonder, if you love your friend so much... you should let them go?

He placed his feet back on the ground and shifted a bit in his chair. Loosing the blue smurfs wasn't going to affect him one bit, he had Brainy taken care of so that when he returns back home it wouldn't be a waste. All Brainy needs is a little incentive, and things will start happening faster than the green skins could see it. The Elder Smurf would be impressed with such accomplishment alone.

"The green smurfs already wiped out several of our bases," said Izotov, "Now our main one, when did you decided to build an underground base?"

"I found the underground base abandoned to begin with," said Dragovich, "So I commandeered it."

"Did you find the remnants of the previous owner?"

"All over the place, still there to this very day. I left a good portion of the base untouched, but modified the most crucial components that gave the base its' most unique feature."

"Which is?"

"Classified, you wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway."

"I didn't believe you had a plan to begin with."

"I always have a plan, the setbacks hadn't changed much."

"Why is that Comrade General?"

"Simple, always expect failure. Failure is just a rest stop for success."

"The Elder Smurf said that once, before he lost his mind."

"I still miss him, that day where he died without recognizing me still haunts me to this very day."

"Speaking of missing, where's Sergei?"

"Hm, I have no idea. I told him to break Brainy out and he complied without question, hadn't seen him ever since."

"Did he defected?"

"No, what I did to Brainy made sure of that."

"Is he dead?"

"_Nyet_, I'm not jumping to conclusions Comrade Colonel. I'm sure he's still out there."

"Fine, whatever."

Izotov got up and walked off, leaving the general alone. He stared into the flames and finished the rest of his tea, then emptied his cup of spruce leaves into the fire.

**. . .**

The world felt sore, yet when Sergei opened his eyes it was much worse than that. He found himself laying on a thick sleeping pad on a cot, and it was quite comfortable too. Sergei saw that he was inside of a brown tarp tent, it was all red smurf and everything. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened, he remember trying to free Brainy from his prison cell but that was it. He had some questions to ask, but right now Sergei was hungry.

He sat up from his cot and got to his feet, after stretching his muscle he staggered out of the tent to find himself in some sort of refugee shelter. The red banner was flying over the temporary camp, it looked dazzling at first but found it uninteresting. He had seen that flag too many times to be counted. Hm, maybe all factions never got a chance to escape the sight of their own colorful fabrics.

Sergei spotted several of his comrades around a campfire, he saw what looked like Oleg roasting a bit of jerky on a stick in the fire. He walked up to him, hoping for some food to eat, "Comrade Sergeant?" he asked.

Oleg looked over his shoulder and saw Sergei, a grin developed on his face, "Sergei," he called out, "Good to see you awake."

"Good to see your mug too Oleg." said Sergei.

"I found you knocked out in the basement of the VIP bunker, I managed to get you out of there in time before the red smurfs wiped the bunker out. Damn idiots."

"We lost?"

"Yeah, we lost. Adrian however seemed to have some insurance up his sleeve, sit down Sergei and relax for once."

Sergei sat down in an empty camping chair, the other red smurfs simply sat there, either reading a book for munching off of some well cooked jerky, "What are you making?" asked Sergei.

"Cooking deer," said Oleg, "I forgotten what they taste like."

"Shot its head off with an S-34 tank!" said a red smurf.

"You shot a bear numb nuts." said another red smurf.

"Oh."

Oleg handed Sergei some jerky and he took a bite out of it, the dried animal meat taste so good that he wondered how long it had been since he had fresh killed meat, "This is good," said Sergei as he finished the entire jerky, "You know where's Adrian at?"

"He should be at the other side of the camp, I bet he and Izotov are having an interesting talk."

"What about Colonel Antosha and Nikolai, where are they?"

"They had separated from the main force during the retreat and are now running their own armies, they'll regroup back with us once we have a permanent base reestablished."

"Okay, thanks Sarge."

"No problem Comrade."

Sergei got up and started walking towards the other side of the camp, after just a quick stroll he saw Dragovich sitting there in a camping chair, ready to fall asleep, "Comrade General," said Sergei, "Am I glad to see you."

"You made it out alive," said Dragovich, "I knew you would."

Sergei sat in the camping chair next to the general, "Oleg helped me out, I was knocked unconscious."

"Did you accomplish your objective."

"Yes sir, but I do not know what became of Brainy afterwords."

"He probably escaped, which is vital to the plan."

"You screwed up his mind, why?"

"I'm trying to see if I can make a spec ops out of our enemy, once Brainy get's the cue, all hell would break loose."

Sergei had no idea what Dragovich was talking about, he hoped he knew what he was doing, "So what's the plan Comrade General?"

"There is this chemical storage site of ours," said Dragovich, "There's something there that we need."

"What is it?"

"Something that needs to be taken care of."

"Okay then..."

_I just wonder why you never tell me everything Adrian._ Sergei thought.

**. . .**

"Nice work Sal," said Jammy, "You did a fine job building the shelter."

Sally shrugged, "It only took me 4 hours, it was a piece of cake."

The shelter was a simple square hut made out of twigs, branches, leaves, and mud. The fresh deposit of snow from the recent winter storm had helped camouflage its presence, even standing a good distance away the hut was nearly impossible to tell it was even there, "I wonder when Lori's coming back with the food," said Sally, "She had been gone for at least an hour now."

"It takes awhile to gather up food," said Jammy, "Especially during this time of the year."

Sally went back to the jeep and sat in the passenger seat, she kicked her legs up onto the dash and sat back, "Electric engines must be popular for industrial smurfs," she said, "The charge in the battery might last for weeks, everything else would-"

Without warning, Lori came running out from the distance and rushed back into camp, "Guys," she cried in terror, "Something's happening nearby!"

"What's happening?" asked Jammy.

"Forest fire!"

"What?" asked Sally.

Sally got out of the jeep and she and Jammy followed Lori, "How far is it?" asked Jammy.

"Not that far." said Lori.

Sally was a bit skeptical at first, hard to think that there would be a forest fire in winter. It was when she got to the edge of a snow-covered savanna where all doubts were destroyed, within the distance was another section of the local forest – on fire! Smoke towered over the skies as animals ran in terror in all directions. There was a whole crowd of wild animals running in a single direction, what are they running from? Sally recalled there weren't any humans nearby, not a single settlement for kilometers around.

The green smurfs began to hear a loud drone sound, then a red smurf fighter plane popped out of the tree line above them. It wasn't a jet engine type plane, it was a propeller piston engine. It was a Rezo Spitfire, Sally clearly saw the red star on the airplane's tail. Its familiar buzzing sound was uncommon, so uncommon that Sally forgotten what it sounded like. She was surprised to see the plane, had it be coming after them she would had crapped herself. It wasn't, it was after something else. The fighter plane made a sharp turn to the right and unloaded a couple of its air to surface missiles awhile firing away its 3mm gun. The crowd of animals were blasted apart by the missiles, body parts and blood shower the area along with smoke and debris. The animals who survived were turned into Swiss cheese by the Rezo's machine guns, by the time the plane flew out of the area a dozen deer, squirrels, birds, and rodents were massacred.

"Now that isn't right," said Jammy, "What's going on?"

"Maybe they're taking their anger on the wildlife since we destroyed their base." said Lori.

"Maybe," said Sally, "But- Crap, it's coming back!"

The Rezo came out of the horizon again, it zipped across the savanna and passed the green smurfs overhead. Sally could see it dropped huge bombs off of its belly, she watched them fall to Earth and crash into the tree line. Walls of fire went up in the sky upon impact, the frost that covered the trees nearby became steam within seconds. Sally didn't need to tell her friends to run, the trio were already running back to camp and quickly packed their things onto the red smurf jeep. With everything in, Sally got behind the wheel as Jammy got into the passenger seat, "Machine gun's ready." said Lori as she hopped behind the 2mm gun and got situated into the seat, "Ready when you are."

"Okay," said Sally as she pressed the ignition button, "Let's get out of here."

She felt disappointed for leaving the hut, it took a lot of time to get it built. Sally stomped on the clutch and the jeep shot forward, she managed to drive the jeep out of the woods and have it skim the side of the forest for a bit before driving back into the woods. "They're burning down the entire forest!" cried Jammy as he hanged on to his SK-47.

More Rezos came out of nowhere and dumped incendiary bombs nearby, the green smurfs were right between newly created fireballs that were eager to consume as much fuel needed to keep them going. Sally cursed, the charge gauge reads at least 15%. Sooner or later, the green smurfs will have to start walking unless they're able to commandeer another jeep, which isn't going to happen. The timing of incendiaries hitting the earth and exploding quickened, it made Sally more nervous. If one bomb lands on top of them, they would be done for. Well on the bright side, the red smurfs had no idea they were down there to begin with. If they had, then it would be much worse then it already was. But with all the incendiaries being dropped, Sally wasn't so sure. Had they been spotted?

One bomb landed just beside them, Sally felt the tongues of the flames lick her cheek. They stung, the adrenaline dulled the pain well, "Friggen damn," cursed Lori, "That would have killed us!"

"No sh*t!" cursed Sally.

"I wish I can shoot them down!"

"You would only accomplish on revealing our position!"

"But still, I wish!"

Several minutes went by of raining fire, after driving what seemed to be 4 kilometers the firebombing slowly died out. Sally kept the jeep going awhile keeping a steady speed, the firebombing might start up again, "Stop there Sally," said Jammy, he pointed over to a partially frozen lake, "We need to rest."

Sally slowed the jeep and pulled up beside the frozen lake, she shuts off the engine and placed her hands on her face. That's when her left cheek burned, "Crap," said Sally, "The fire had got me."

"Your hair's partially burned," said Lori, "Smart move keeping it trimmed."

Sally got out of the smurfvee and picked up a clump of snow, she pressed it against her burned cheek and felt the cold bite it hard, "What a rush," said Jammy, "Thanks for getting us out of there Sally."

"Your welcome bro," said Sally, "How's my cheek look?"

She turned and face Jammy where he examined the burn, "Burned red, 2nd degree burn maybe. Some gauze bandages will help it heal."

Lori got down from the machine gun and approached the lake, "Ice looks solid," she said, "How are we going to fish in this frozen pond?"

"I know of a way," said Jammy, "Done it before back at the Colony, you make a small hole through the ice and fish through that."

"Simple stone tools then?" asked Sally.

"A bit of rope from the trees' roots and we'll craft some tools to use," said Lori, "What about bait?"

"We can use our remaining rations," said Sally, "But that's a risk to take."

"I'll worry about food later," said Jammy, "I'm more concerned in getting the jeep out of sight right now."

"Okay then," Sally jumped back behind the wheel, "Lori, you push."

Lori started to pout but eventually gave in, she reluctantly pushed the jeep off into the bushes as Sally steered the way. Jammy tried not to laugh at Lori's emotions as he looked off into the distance, Sally nearly dozed off until Lori managed to wedge the jeep into a small patch of bushes, "There," Lori grumbled, "You make the tools Sally."

"Okay then," said Sally, "Let's go look for some roots and rocks."

"I'll build a shelter," said Jammy, "Something that could warm us without a fire."

_I won't be getting in with you bro. _Sally thought.

"Warm us up without a fire?" asked Lori suspiciously.

"What do I look like," asked Jammy, "A pyromaniac? We just survive through a firestorm, why not we go back there and collect a fire sample to bring back here? Would you do that?"

"No."

"Besides, we might not even be here long to begin with. I'll keep it short, once I'm done I'll join up you guys within a jiffy."

"Okay Jam," said Sally, "See you in a little bit."

"See yah."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	33. Act III: Chapter XXXIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXIII_

"It's a miracle you got him here," said the doctor, "I never seen a humanoid in such bad shape before."

"Is he going to make it?" asked Laura's father.

The doctor sighed as he put his tools back into his medical bag, "With the wounds he sustained and the severe blood loss from whatever demon he had faced, it would be a miracle if this, what did you call him, green smurf, would make it at all. I know little of smurfs, I grew up not knowing their existence. But with an actual smurf before me... it's hard to believe."

Earlier Laura and her brothers brought Chernov home in a hurry, the father soon went to get a doctor. Once the doctor showed up, he began to clean Chernov up. With precision, he pulled out all the shrapnel pieces he can visibly find and extracted the bullet out of his chest, all in not knowing what they were. After being wrapped up in gauze, Chernov was all patched up, "Where did you find him?" asked the doctor.

"My daughter brought him home, I know not where. With all these sudden bush fires appearing in the kingdom, it may be wise to keep him indoors for now."

"I heard rumors that these metal birds were causing this, maybe one of them gotten a hold of this poor fellow. I knew that the old petstore owner in town sells these green smurfs, finding one in the wild surprises me."

"I asked the shopkeeper about it and he said this teenager wearing illusion clothing brought them in to sell, saying that they were his finest work. This one however is unusual, I do not recall them being 4 inches long, and so skinny."

"I think this one is a leader, you can tell by his authorative look."

"Could be, I best be going now."

"Bye doc, I'll write you back to tell you how he's doing."

**. . .**

"Is he alright Daddy?" asked Laura.

"He's alright sweetie," said her father, "He's sleeping now, so don't bug him."

"I won't Daddy."

"That's my girl."

As her father returned to his study, Laura approached Chernov awhile holding Cuddles in her hands. She can't help but see how cute Chernov looked awhile laying on a pillow, Laura got up on a support stool and sat Cuddles down on the table, "Don't bug him Cuddles."

Cuddles nod, the fat green smurfette walked over to the pillow, climbed up on it, and looked over Chernov has he slept. Laura watched his chest rise and fall, worried that he'll stop breathing altogether. He didn't move, but moaned something unintelligable. The fellow must be dreaming, which means he must be sleeping well. As Laura looked over him, her brothers came into the room with curiosity, "How is he?" asked Norman

"He's doing fine," said Laura, "He's just sleeping is all."

"I can't believe we would find ourselves seeing Chernov again," said Henry, "After all that trouble with Cuddles..."

"Yeah what a nightmare that was," said Norman, "Now we gotta figure out how to get Chernov home."

"Do we even know where his home is?"

"I don't know, do you Laura?"

"No." said Laura.

"Once he wakes up," said Henry, "We ask him ourselves, then we just take him there."

"Sounds like a plan," said Laura, "I think its a classic."

"Was until 5 years ago where the King said it was no longer a classic."

"Whatever."

"Let's go Henry," said Norman, "We got shopping to do."

"Okay, you need anything awhile we're gone Laura?"

"No." said Laura.

"Bye."

"Bye guys, see you later."

As Norman and Henry left, Laura resumed watching over Chernov. He had repositioned himself and was no sleeping on his side, a part of Laura wanted to pet him but realized he was to injured to be physically handled. Cuddles might have some luck though.

**. . .**

The library of the Green Smurf Colony was large, but not massive. Its shelves filled with the fine arts of literature formed by green smurf minds and hands. The green smurf library was built soon after the Humanoid Wars in an effort to store the knowledge gained from the war's many battles, it soon went on to contain many fiction stories by green smurf writers, blueprints of the latest technologies, and even the works of the creator himself. Papa Smurf, Rachael, and Rick were here to seek the knowledge of Chernov's work, stored somewhere here in the library.

The main floor stored the books, but the basements stored documents and blueprints in climate-controlled vaults. Few green smurfs ever venture down there, except the janitors. In order to access the vaults that stored Chernov's work, one must know the code for the keypad lock. Rick knew the code well and punched it into the keypad, the code happens to be the date of Chernov's birthday.

A green light came on and the vault opens up, its thick steel door slowly slid open. Revealing boxes and crates covered in a fine layer of dust. "I hadn't been in here since Chernov built this place," said Rick, "Never thought I would ever be down here again."

Seeing all the boxes made Papa Smurf frown, he was too old for this, "This... is going to take awhile."

"Had Chernov took delivery of putting all of his scientific papers about biology to print we wouldn't be down here," said Rick, "We don't have to look through everything, just these boxes right here."

Rick walked up to one of the boxes and pulled it off the shelf, he sat it on the ground and opened it up. Inside were files and files of documents pressed side by side of each other, Rick thumbed through the files and discovered and sighed, "These aren't it," he said, "Wrong box."

He closed it up and stuck it back into the shelf, then got down and opened yet another box. After skimming through the files, he grumbled and stuck the box back into the shelf, "That's not it either," stumped Rick, "Where did he put those files?"

"I'm sure he put them in here," said Rachael, "Why not those boxes in the back."

"Those are his older work, Pre-Humanoid War stuff. But its worth a shot."

Rick went to the back and pulled out the oldest box he could find on the shelf, he opened it up and thumbed through the files, "This is it," said Rick, "Not only it's what we're looking for, but there's files containing some information about the beginning of the green smurf race. Let's check this stuff out."

The group brought the box back up into the lobby and began to sort them all out. They sort through the files and read pretty much everything on there, turns out the box contained files of Chernov's childhood. Pictures were found of a smurfling Chernov happily posing for the camera, they even found a single picture of Chernov's biological mother. Rick can't bear to laugh since she looked cross-eyed in the photo, "Rachael," asked Rick as he tucked the photo back into the file where he found it, "Had Chernov ever talked to you about his mom?"

"No," said Rachael, "I did ask him, even the kids, he just kept saying he didn't wanna talk about it and its all just useless history."

"I did managed to get him to talk about her a few weeks after he moved into the Smurf Village," said Papa Smurf, "He told me how alone he felt in the world when he thought he was the only member of his species, that all change once he stumbled into you."

"It was hilarious," said Rick, "The way he pinned me down in all, the first encounter with the Green Smurf Colony started with my humiliation. So much for a first impression."

"In some of his notes," said Papa Smurf, "Chernov talks about my smurfs by the way he views them. Listen to this: _That particular smurf with the mustache always like to paint, a slightest blemish on his work would cause him to faint. The Painter Smurf, as he is called, always occupy himself with this creative art. To much of his skill, he is off the charts._" Papa Smurf chuckled, "Poet Smurf will be jealous of his writing right here, he's very smurfy at his rhyming."

"He often writes his journal's in rhyme," said Rachael, "He saw some sort of magic in words."

"You read some of his books?" asked Rick.

"No, but when he's drunk, he flirts with me awhile rhyming."

"When was that?"

"It had been months ago, since last summer... I miss those days. For some reason, he's so happy when intoxicated. When he's sober, he's always depressed. I couldn't figure out why?"

Papa Smurf started so say something but was cut off by Rick, "Alcohol helps you not think of your problems, its a depressant since its slows down your cognitive function. It also amplifies your moods, maybe Chernov only gets drunk when he's in a good mood."

Papa Smurf exhaled in response.

"I wish he was here to so I can ask him that," Rachael paused for a moment before continuing, "I can't seem to salvage what's left of my life, I felt guilty not saving him since I was the one carrying him outta there-"

"Its not your fault Rachael," said Papa Smurf, "Even if you carried him to safety, he would still had died."

"Then I would at least taken him home."

"We will avenge him," said Rick, "We finish what he started, scaring the hell out of the red smurfs. And- Holy sh*t, guys I think I found it!"

Papa Smurf and Rachael crowd around Rick, "One at a time one at a time," he said as he held up a document. It was starting to yellow, yet the letters looked like they were made yesterday, "_Schtroumpf Reznovus _means green smurfs, _Reznovus _is just a scientific form of the family name _Reznov_. Chernov goes on to talk about how he watched Dad carefully craft the green smurfs using Mama's DNA, I can't understand what terminology Chernov is using for some of these words."

"I almost forgot about Mama." said Rachael.

"Smurfette?" asked Papa Smurf.

"I gotta go check if she's awake now, I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Tell Mama I'll arrange for some more blankets and hot tea for tonight," said Rick, "It's suppose to snow again tonight, I don't want her to get too cold after what she endured."

"I'll tell her Rickie, bye."

"See you sis."

As Rachael ran off, Rick turned towards Papa Smurf, "She's taking it hard Papa Smurf," said Rick, "She looks up to you as a father, can you cheer her up?"

"I'll try," said Papa Smurf, "But I'm not Chernov, these aren't my smurfs of course."

"Think of green smurfs as your smurfs when they're children. And you'll might find a connection, just don't show any weaknesses or they'll exploit it for their own personal gain."

"I'll bear that in mind."

**. . .**

After two weeks of inhospitable conditions and privacy invasions, Smurfette lived to tell the tale. It was a blessing for the green smurfs to rescue her, she had no idea how long she can endure more torture. The red smurfs had violated her almost once a day for their own selfish desires, though Smurfette had experienced similar abuse in the past she hadn't experienced anything this extreme before. She couldn't burn the flashbacks out of her mind, the way they start to undress and-

"Mama!" called out Rachael's voice.

Smurfette sat up and saw Rachael jogging in, "You're awake," she said, "Finally, I was worried."

Rachael sat down beside her and gave Smurfette a big hug, "Thank you Rachael," said Smurfette, "Thank you for getting us out of there."

"What did they do to you," she asked, "Did they... touched you?"

Smurfette gave her a nod.

"Those bastards! For some reason, they can be quite picky. I had been imprisoned in a red smurf camp before, the conscripts there will take one good look and me and be disgusted," Rachael grabbed a portion of her belly and lifted it up, "Maybe its because of the _insurance _I have, they don't know what they're missing if you ask me."

Smurfette giggled, at least she wasn't the first smurfette to be in that situation, "Where's Chernov?"

"He didn't make it, I couldn't find my smurflings anywhere in there at all. Though we did managed to get Sassette outta there, we couldn't find Baby Smurf anywhere. It's like he vanished from the face of the earth."

"Everyone else?"

"We got them outta there, but Nanny Smurf is missing. The blue smurfs say they hadn't seen her when they were being kidnapped. Everyone is doing fine Smurfette... well not everybody."

"Rachael, it isn't the end of the world."

"Its not, but it may be the end of our race if we can't prepare for the worse of the war. Chernov called it the Primary War; since there are red, green, and blue smurfs involved then I see why he called it that way."

Smurfette stood up and stretched her legs, "Chernov told me that I have power here in the Colony, I guess its time for me to use it."

"You sure you're up to the challenge Mama?"

"I had led the Smurf Village temporary once when Papa Smurf was out running errands, I think I can give it another go at leadership."

"You best talk to Papa Smurf and Rick then, they'll point you to the right direction. Are you sure you okay Mama?"

"I'm fine Rachael, the bath removed all of the red smurf stains and grime. I should be smurfy for the long term."

Rachael giggled, "Green smurf stains are even worse, and it smells twice as bad."

"I don't want to think about it Rachael."

"Okay then Mama, I'll be going now."

"See yeah."

Smurfette heads out the door and walked over to the Command Center, _Go talk to Rick,_ she thought, _He'll point me in the right direction._ When Smurfette got there, she found the Command Center empty. Rick's not here, might as well wait for him. She walked to the back of the room and saw the lonely cot lying on the floor, that bed brought up a lot of memories of her last stay in the Green Smurf Colony.

She remembered it now, meeting with many green smurfs and such. Helping out with their chores and daily jobs, enjoying one of their parties, getting into a fist fight with Dashie. How corrupt they were, no wonder Chernov didn't want green smurfs besides his personal family near the Smurf Village. As she stared at the cot, a thought struck her: What's actually underneath it?

Curious, she grabbed the cot and pulled it up. A vanilla folder lay smack dab at the center, it appeared packed with documents. Smurfette grabbed the folder and opened, the document that greeted her seemed ominous. She skimmed through the sentences and paragraphs, eventually reading most of it. She could barely keep her hands still. The documents were intended for Dashie, which was surprising. What's even more surprising... is that they don't come from a red smurf origin. Smurfette knew how mean-spirited and cruel she was, what she found blown her freaking mind.

_Rick should read this, _she thought, _He should!_

Smurfette closed up the folder and ran to the front door, she stuck her head out and looked around. There weren't anyone in sight, she ran back to her spiderhole and found Rachael far at the far end of the street. She ran towards her, her legs hadn't been running in awhile but Smurfette managed to keep them going. "Rachael!" she called out.

Rachael turned around, her eyes nearly crossing, "What happened?" she asked.

"I found this under Dashie's cot," she said as she showed Rachael the file, "It isn't good."

Rachael took the file and opened it, after skimming through it her eyes went big, "No wonder she vanished when we got back to the Colony," she said, "Rick's at the library, he'll know what to do."

"Let's hurry then, come on!"

The two smurfettes ran towards the library as fast as they can, the snow was beginning to fall again but they ignored it. Passing by several green smurfs and curious blue smurfs, they managed to reach the library and head straight into the lobby, "Rick!" cried Rachael, "You gotta see this!"

Rick looked up and was surprised to see them rushing towards him, Papa Smurf was equally surprised, "What happened!" he cried, he was probably worried somesmurf died or something.

"Mama found this under your cot," said Rachael as she handed the files to Rick, "It's intended for Dashie."

Rick opened up the file and read the document inside, "These are orders," said Rick, he read through the rest of the document and his eyes went big, "Holy crap!"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	34. Act III: Chapter XXXIV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXIV_

Chernov thought he was dead, it felt quite like it. He remembered an artillery shell blasting him out of Rachael's arms and being covered with shrapnel damage, but nothing after that. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was in a huge room. He looked around and saw all the furniture was huge, that could only mean one thing. _Humans, _he thought, _This is a human household._

He found himself on a pillow, sitting on a wooden table in the middle of a room awhile wrapped up in a small blanket. There was no use sitting up, he was too weak. With all of his muscles aching, all he could do is close his eyes and go back to sleep. But just before he could, a familiar figure popped its head over the pillow. Chernov took one good look of the figure and saw the M81 Woodland camouflage dress and smurf hat clothing, not to mention the obvious green skin and huge girth. Her crooked smile showed that she's friendly, she's not Rachael, but Chernov knew her well.

"Hello Cuddles," he muttered, "It's been awhile."

"Brother!" she cooed, then tried to give him a big hug. Chernov squirmed and pushed her back, her arms reached for him like they're being attracted to magnets. He gave her a hard shove and Cuddles fell over the side of the pillow and thumped onto the table, "Ow." she simply says.

_At least she's figuring out how to string some words together. _Chernov thought.

Laura walked in and saw him wide awake, "Daddy!" she cried, "He's awake!"

_Shut up little girl. _Chernov thought with agony.

Her father came walking out into the room, seeing him made Chernov a little scared. A human child is one thing, but an adult however is different. They tend to be more sophisticated when seeking gold, but Chernov saw that he had no such intentions, "Had it been a long time since we last meet?" asked Chernov, "I guess we're now even."

"It had been awhile," said the father, "I never expect to see you again, nor to see you alive. When you got here, you were in a very bad state. I do not know where Laura found you, so what happened to you?"

"Its a long complicated story. To make it really short, me and my green smurfs were waging war against another species of smurfs in order to get back some friends. I had fallen in battle, they all think I'm probably dead. I guess I have to thank your daughter in saving my life, though it was a great risk since the enemy we're fighting tends to hate all forms of animal life. Mainly intelligent life."

The father turned towards Laura, "Where did you find him Laura?"

"I found him in the far part of the forest, it looked like some battle went on there."

"Whatever you do, do not go back there. No telling what creature lurks there."

"Red smurfs," said Chernov, "Their skin is pure red, its much worse than you think. They can kill you even when they're at least 3 miles away."

"Oh damn, that explains the unusual forest fires cropping up."

Chernov's eyebrows raised, "Forest fires?"

"They started up without warning, people say that there were dead animals laying all over the place. The wild animals appeared to have been shot by a firearm, but they don't appear to be muskets."

"Red smurfs must be mad, they'll cool off within a few weeks and things will be back to normal."

"You're hungry Chernov?" asked Laura.

"Starved," lied Chernov, even though he didn't feel hungry he knew he needed to eat something, "Something good, please."

"I need to go run some errands Laura," said the father, "In the meantime, take care of him. Just don't get him irritated."

_Too late for that sir. _Chernov thought.

"Yes Daddy." said Laura.

As her father left, Laura got to work fixing up some food for Chernov. He watched as Cuddles' green hand came on top of the pillow as she pulled herself up, _The captive green smurf is very persistent._ He frustratingly thought. No use pushing her off again. She crawled towards him and pulled off his blanket, revealing his torso and some of his arms were covered in bandages. Chernov begin to wonder where his jacket went off too, nonetheless he'll worry about that later. Right now, his main concern was Cuddles, who was bugging him. He turned around and got onto his belly and buried his face into the pillow, that's when she placed her hands on his shoulders.

He tried to resist at first, but the way she relaxed his tense muscles made him fall under her spell. Chernov was tired, and he needed a massage. He moaned as Cuddles broke up the knots and stiff muscles with her thumbs. Cuddles was strong, her grip was stronger than any green smurf he knew. Chernov looked out as he rest his chin on the pillow, "A little lower," he said, "Around the center of the spine."

Cuddles flexed her fingers over Chernov's back, though the bandages were hindering her performance it was enough for Chernov to relax with. After a few more minutes, he remembered something, "How about the feet?" She nod and pulled the blanket off of him, Chernov got back onto his back and saw his legs were also bandaged. With his pants gone, he realized he was only wearing his boxers. He placed his hand on his hand and noticed his hat was also gone, _Great, _he thought, _I'm one step away from being naked._

Chernov laid back as Cuddles began to massage his feet, among the work she'd done so far this was the best, "I owe you one Cuddles," he said reluctantly, "I'll pay you back sometime."

Laura came back into the room with some fresh food, the smell of it all made Chernov's mouth water. Now, he's hungry. "How's everything at home?" he asked.

"Good," said Laura, "Norman is getting a job soon."

"What is his job?"

"Street announcer."

Chernov chuckled, "Now you have something to tease him with."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"So Laura, I'm wondering if you know where my clothes are?"

"They're covered in bloodstained, mud, and grime. Your jacket is pretty much destroyed, but your pants is AOK. You were pretty banged up when I found you."

"Happens a lot, more common than you think."

"You have a family back at home?"

Chernov didn't answer right away, "Sort of, my children are missing. The red smurfs took them, but they managed to escape. I found out when I got to their headquarters, the loss was more great than I expected. Now with my girlfriend thinking I'm dead, along with the rest of the colony. The red smurfs will sure be victorious, unless I can find my way back home."

"You know the way, right?"

"Yeah, I do. So... what you made?"

"French toast."

"Bring it."

Laura cut a piece of bread and handed it to Chernov, he took a bite of it and discovered how dense the bread was, "Corn bread," he said, "The butter is more thick than what I'm used to as well."

"You like it?" asked Laura.

"Love it, this will might keep me going for awhile."

Chernov ate the corn bread Laura fixed up for him, even though it was one slice he managed to eat half of it before becoming full. "Thanks," said Chernov, "You have anything to drink?"

"Sure, milk."

His ear's perked, _Milk?_

"Okay then." he said.

Laura held up a small cup and Chernov drank out of it, the taste of milk was as close to Heaven as he can get. It help took away the pain for a moment, only for a moment. "Thanks, I am good for now."

"Okay Chernov, I'll leave you alone now."

"Thanks."

Laura took the plate and cup away as Chernov sat up, Cuddles sat there on the foot of the pillow, simply staring at him. He ignored her as he grabbed the blanket and covered himself with it, then slumped back down and tried to fall asleep. Just as he close his eye, Cuddles flopped beside him and gave him a hug. _Just what I need, _thought Chernov sarcastically, _A hug._

**. . .**

Colonel Antosha had led his small army southwest of Fort Romanov in the mad retreat, he knew General Dragovich got out but had no idea where he was at the moment. He did not care, he was more worried in getting supplies rather than regrouping with him. Antosha had at least 3 rifle regiments and 2 brigades of armor and artillery. It isn't a smart move to attack the main green smurf force even if they outnumber them. The Green Smurf Air Force will cut them down to size before the ground units will show up. All the colonel can do now is sit down and figure out his next move.

He stationed his army underneath a thick set of woods, after setting up the tents the troops stretched their legs and sit back as a few red smurfs went out in search of food. Antosha sat there at his desk, a simple ammunition crate, and waited for his scout to return. The colonel was furious at Dragovich for letting this happen, even though he's still loyal to the general he's becoming more resented towards him. Somehow, Antosha thinks that he has a better hand than Dragovich at the moment.

"Sir," said a voice coming outside his tent, "Permission to enter."

"Permission granted." said Antosha.

The red smurf scout that Antosha had been waiting for had finally arrived, he stepped into the tent as the colonel stood to face him, "What do you have for me?" asked Antosha.

"I found something interesting," said the scout, "The Wunderwaffe had been wounded in battle and is left behind during the confusion."

Antosha find this hard to believe, "Go on."

"Sir, a member of the nearby human populace had found him. They took him to safety in this stone mason home, his own forces are unaware of his whereabouts."

"How can you confirm that?"

The scout turned and reached outside the tent and pulled out an RS-100, he handed it to Antosha, "This."

The colonel examined the weapon, it appeared to be elite alright, "Very well." said Antosha, "Since all hopes for diplomacy is off the table, and since I'm still angry at General Dragovich, I say we go after the Wunderwaffe."

"Sir, there are neutral tangos involved. We cannot-"

"Cannot what?"

The scout sighed, "Cannot include more enemies Comrade Colonel."

"The humans are no match for the red smurf war machine, their technology is weak. We'll attack the house and burn it to the ground in order to get the Wunderwaffe out. Dragovich may not like it but there isn't anything he can do about it. We're losing this war and already lost our reasons for fighting it, it's best to end it in a stalemate rather than lost completely."

"In killing the leader?"

"Yes, there isn't much else we can do. Killing the Wunderwaffe will make the disorganization of our adversary permanent." Antosha sat the RS-100 aside, "Prepare the conscripts, we'll strike at the Wunderwaffe tomorrow."

**. . .**

Around 21:00, Rick poured over the file in the Command Center as Papa Smurf, Smurfette, and Rachael sat around the table. It was all hard to take in, "This isn't a surprise," he said as pushed the file to the center of the table, "I should had caught it early on, maybe make a difference."

"So Dashie defected," said Rachael, "It isn't hard to see why."

"Since we aren't talking to each other as we used to, not to mention sleeping with each other as we used to, the relationship may be over. She could blame me for the lost of our child since I was the one who got her into that situation," Rick sighed as he sat back, "Apologies will not work in her case, she's just too stubborn for that. I just knew she would be out of my life sooner or later... this I didn't expect."

"Could she be responsible for the attack on the Smurf Village?" asked Papa Smurf.

"She may had contributed to the attack, Dashie never liked you guys anyway."

"I thought I had gotten through to her," said Smurfette, "I guess I hadn't."

"Maybe you had, she just made up her mind regardless."

"So Rick," said Rachael, "What are we going to do now?"

"We say not a word of this," said Rick, "If Dashie ever returns, we play it cool and act like none the wiser. If word gets out, there's no telling what kind of destruction she might cause."

"What's the penalty for defection?" asked Papa Smurf.

Rick simply looked at him and bluntly say, "The penalty is execution via firing squad."

"Who made that law up?" asked Smurfette.

"Chernov, he's the only one who have the heart to do it. Heck I wouldn't do it, but I'm not willing to overturn his policies once I take full command," Rick grabbed his hair and pulled out a few loose strands, "I'll place a sabotage watch on the colony and step up patrols tonight. Tomorrow, I'll send out search parties to see where Dashie went. Just two, I can't risk our best scouts during these times."

"In the meantime," said Rachael, "What did we found about that scientific name?"

"Lots of stuff, they seem promising but it isn't enough. There's just not enough information here to depict the entire picture."

"There's a lot of notes and files back at my house, though I'm not sure it's safe... or sanitary."

"What happened at the Smurf Village awhile we're gone?" asked Papa Smurf.

"Me and Chernov tried to defend the place from the red smurfs by taking pot-shots at them with sniper rifles... we didn't clean up the mess since it was snowing so bad."

"Probably it went under red smurf control," said Rick, "Red smurfs often come back to the battlefield to salvage what they could from what remains, they may had cleaned out all of the mushroom houses for all I know."

"We locked up our house before we left, a red smurf can't get in without being electrocuted."

"How about this, I'll order a flyby over the area to see if it is occupied or not. That way we won't have to find out the hard way once we get there."

"That would do it."

Rick gathered up all the documents and packed them all back into its folder, "Give it three days before we get to the Smurf Village, for now we rest up. I'm too exhausted to do anything else and I have other things to worry about, such as stability of the colony."

"Is there a place I can stay for tonight?" asked Papa Smurf.

"My spiderhole," said Rachael, "You can stay with me if you like."

"Thanks Rachael."

"I'll see you guys later then." said Rick.

"Bye Rick."

"Bye."

When Rachael, Smurfette, and Papa Smurf left, Rick took the file and stashed it back under the cot. He sat back in his chair and spent a couple of hours in grief, first he was depressed, then scared. He sat there before his HAM radio and thought for a moment, Rick began to think it was a mistake in keeping this a secret. He radioed in to Chad and ask him to send a guard to the Command Center for protection, just in case. Then he went on and announcing the sabotage watch and search parties, with all that done Rick laid onto his cot and closed his eyes.

He find it hard to sleep, even with all the lights off. The thought of being assassinated by someone he loved wasn't sitting well in his mind, when he heard footsteps coming from outside he jumped and shot up, "Lieutenant Commander?" a green smurf armed with a Smurfsterner was standing at the doorway to the Command Center.

"Yes bro?"

"I'm the guard you called for."

"Oh, thanks."

"No problem sir."

The guard shut the door and proceed to keep an eye outside, Rick laid back down and stared up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath and sighed, it's going to be a long night.

**TO** BE CONTINUED...****


	35. Act III: Chapter XXXV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXV_

The next day rose, greeting Chernov with a blast of sunlight coming through the window onto his face. He was greeted by Cuddles, not a surprise there. He was also greeted by Laura who served him breakfast, Chernov never had anything so good before in his life. No wonder Cuddles was so fat. After breakfast, he had no choice but to play with Cuddles for a few hours. Even though she got on his nerves, Chernov found himself opening his heart to her. Though nobody will ever replace Rachael, it doesn't hurt to befriend other half-sisters.

He found her very cheerful and playful, the most sweetest green smurfette since Lizzy. Chernov realized that she never experienced actual hardship, getting lost is one thing but someone who was hellbent on trying to kill you is another. Cuddles brought back memories. Good ones from old past times with the blue and green smurfs. Chernov remembered the songs, the music the smurfs' voices can sing. He remembered playing with his kids, nurturing them, and even tucking them into bed. The past it seems was sweet, but the future will not be the same. It didn't take much for reality to wake up Chernov's senses.

Laura's father came into the room after a trip from the local market, his face showed concern, "A huge forest fire just sprouted up," he said, "Not that far from here, there's a firestorm about."

Chernov sat up, "Should it be a concern?"

"The village closest to it tried its best to put it out, but they wound up running away just when the got there to fight it. They claim that metal birds came down from the skies and launched fiery pellets and explosives at them."

_Metal birds? _Chernov thought. After thinking about it, he realized they might not be birds at all. There's no way birds would be made out of metal, they'll be way too heavy when using wings alone.

"Tell me about these metal birds." said Chernov.

"Well," said the father, "I hadn't really seen them myself but the villagers say that they came down awhile giving off this buzzing noise. They say it didn't sound like birds at all. Their wings were fixed, not flapping awhile ascending or descending. They were moving through the air by spinning wings on the nose."

_Oh no, _Chernov thought with concern, _Rezos._

The war may be still going on, Chernov wasn't so sure. He knew he accomplish his objective, but he also knew the war won't just end there. There was hell to pay, the red smurfs knew that it was unwise to attack the green smurfs after all those failures. So they turned their guns on neutral ground, targeting innocent civilizations and annihilating them in a single go.

"Is there something wrong Chernov?" asked the human.

"Not yet," said Chernov, "But I fear it would soon will be."

His instincts told him that something big will roar in, hitting square home. Chernov laid back down and pulled the blanket over to his chin and relaxed, "Do you know where my pants is?"

"Oh yes, I think Laura took care of that for you."

"I'll go get her for you Chernov."

"Thanks."

The father called out for Laura and went back to his study, Laura came scampering into the room seconds later, "You need me?" she asked.

"My pants?"

"Oh, of course!"

She ran off and returned with his pants, they looked quite small in her hands, "I cleaned them up the best I could," she said as she handed it to Chernov, "Try them on."

Chernov threw off the covers and pulled the camouflaged pants back on, they felt nice and warm as he remembered them. Now he can walk around without worrying to cover his shame, "Thanks Laura," said Chernov, "Like I said before, we're even."

"Okay Chernov."

"So Laura," said Henry as he came walking through the door as Norman followed behind, "How is Chernov?"

"He's doing great!" said Laura.

"And you have to spoil everything with your ugly mugs," said Chernov, he gave it a moment before chuckling, "I'm just kidding. Great to see you guys after all this time."

"You have a sense of humor." said Norman.

"Yeah, and?"

"I recall you were so serious when we first met you, you just like to get things done and over with."

Chernov shrugged, "Pretty much."

Cuddles came up from behind and grab Chernov, he was just about to flip her over his shoulder until he realized she was giving him a big hug, "That brat likes you." said Henry.

"Well, Cuddles is my half-sister. We both have the same father."

"How do you know?"

"My dad is responsible for creating the green smurf race, a human being who had seen hell and back. All done before the mid-point of adolescence."

"Your dad is a teenager!" asked Norman.

"Yeah, an intelligent one too. He left me on my own just a couple of years ago, I went and got my life established once he's out of the picture."

"Do you have a mother?" asked Laura.

"Yes, she's a blue smurf construct straight from a wizard's spellbook. My mom's dead now, died giving birth to me. So I never met her, nor was I sure what she's like."

"It must be hard on you."

"Harder than you can imagine, I was the first of my race."

"Wow," said Laura, "You must be special."

"Was special, I'm just a prototype. I mainly serve as a leader in my civilization, that's about it."

"So Chernov," said Henry, "Where is your home?"

"A bit far from here," said Chernov, "But don't attempt it, you do not want to get near the Green Smurf Colony during wartime."

"Then how do we get you home?" asked Norman.

"I'll figure something out eventually," said Chernov, "Right now I just wanna rest."

**. . .**

"Is that the place?" asked Colonel Antosha.

"Da, Comrade Colonel." said the scout.

Antosha looked through a pair of binoculars and eyed the stone-built house. It was beautifully crafted with love, Antosha can tell, the house appeared so well built that it probably would last for centuries in the harshest conditions. Mother Nature may find destroying this structure will take careful time, but Antosha's heavy artillery can do her job within seconds.

The colonel handed the binoculars back to the scout and got onto the radio, "Get the tank division in place," he ordered, "Have some rifle infantry on stand by. Do not raid the building until I gave you the signal. Artillery division, take it from here. Break some holes in the house. Armor division, you are authorized to shoot any living creature that flees the scene. Do not hesitate, just shoot. Let at them comrades."

One of the heavy artillery cannons aimed its massive 14mm gun in the air and fired, seconds later the shell smashed into the house and made one of the windows bigger.

**. . .**

Hearing the crashing sound made Chernov nearly crapped himself, he shot up and brought Cuddles to the surface of the table. Another crashing sound occurred in the other side of the building, followed by another in the back. Norman and Henry drop to the floor and protected their heads with their hands, "What was that!" cried Norman.

"Artillery!" cried Chernov, "Get down!"

Chernov grabbed the pillow and knocked it to the floor, he grabbed a hold of Cuddles and pushed her off the table before following suit. The two green smurfs landed harmlessly onto the pillow, Chernov quickly got back onto his feet and grabbed Cuddles' hand. He pulled her along as he ran to the edge of the wall and huddled up against it.

The father came running into the room in a state of shock, "Everybody out!" he cried, "Everybody-"

He was cut short as a shell ripped through the wall and blast his head off, the father collapsed onto the floor as blood sprayed everywhere from his neck's major blood vessels. "Dad!" cried Norman.

Chernov grabbed Cuddles and pressed her face against his chest, covering her eye as the horror unfold. Norman and Henry crawled towards their father's body but were stopped when an artillery shell ripped through the ceiling and landed on top of them. Norman took most of the blow on his back and was killed instantly, Henry was blasted backwards as shrapnel ripped through his face and torso. He hit his head against the stone wall and immediately loosed consciousness. As he lay dying Laura came running into the room screaming, Chernov made no attempt to cover Cuddles' ears.

"Norman, Henry, Daddy!" she screamed.

"Get down Laura!" warned Chernov, "Before you-"

A blast ripped through the wall and blew Laura back, she was amazingly unhurt. She simply got back up and saw there was now a gaping maw in the wall, just as Laura approached it she was shot by a 7mm round. Chernov was both amazed and terrified as the round literally tore Laura to shreds, body parts and blood flew everywhere. Reducing the human child to nothing more than chunks of burnt flesh and bone. Making sure Cuddles didn't see the carnage, he moved her to the next room awhile keeping her face planted to his torso. Once he pushed the door shut, he let go of Laura. Her face showed petrifying terror.

**. . .**

"All human targets are down sir." said the tank commander on the radio.

"Find the Wunderwaffe," ordered Colonel Antosha, "Capture or kill him. Infantry, you now have my signal."

**. . .**

"URA!"

Hearing the battlecry of red smurf voices didn't bug Chernov one bit, he was already horrified enough. Unarmed and outnumbered, the only thing he could do was get the hell out of dodge. Though he wasn't sure how to get out with Cuddles, who was useless in a combat situation. He thinked fast, but came up with no plan. Looks like he had to shoot his way out.

He looked around and saw a small mouse hole in the wall, the hole led straight through outside. Though Chernov wasn't sure if it was there to begin with or it was created by the artillery destroying part of the building, he doesn't care at this point, he saw it as the only way out.

Chernov rushed over to the side of the hole as Cuddles followed behind, he instinctively waited for a couple of seconds. Sure enough, a red smurf foolishly charged through the hole. He grabbed the red smurf by the neck and thrown him back through the hall, actually slamming him against a couple of his comrades. Chernov quickly picked up the red smurf's SK-47 and held down the trigger as he mowed the red smurfs down.

"Sorry you have to see that Cuddles." said Chernov.

Thankfully Cuddles didn't ran away in total shock, she just stood there staring at the bodies. Chernov quickly grabbed the ammo off of the red smurfs and stuffed it into his pants pockets, along with some stick grenades and tactical Molotov Cocktails. After looting the bodies, Chernov stepped out of the hole and looked outside. He saw the red smurf formations coming up nearby, along with several more infantryman. Chernov went back inside and grabbed Cuddles by the hand, "Trust me in this sis." he said.

Cuddles nodded sheepishly and Chernov pulled her along. The two green smurf's ran out of the house and rushed into the nearby vegetation. The red smurfs didn't seem to had spot them. Chernov strapped the SK-47 onto his back and pushed Cuddles on. Even though she was fast on her feet, she was already loosing her breath, "I'm not going to carry you," he said, "You got to keep running!"

A loud explosion occurred behind the red smurfs, Chernov looked behind and saw the house going up in a fireball. He didn't let Cuddles have anytime to look back, he just pushed her along in an effort to get as far away of this place as humanly possible.

**. . .**

Colonel Antosha watched as the red smurfs stormed the human household, after waiting several minutes the red smurfs came out frustrated and disappointed. A clear sign that they hadn't found the Wunderwaffe, "All clear Comrade Colonel." said the tank commander.

"I can see that conscript," said Antosha, "Stay where you are and await further orders."

"Yes sir."

Antosha puts away the radio and hiked over the the human household, when he got there he went up to the highest ranking red smurf there and asked, "You found him?"

"He got away," said the red smurf, "Or he was never here at all."

_He must be saying that so he wouldn't be blamed. _Antosha thought.

"What do you found?" he asked.

"We found 4 humans, one adult, two adolescence, and one child. All are dead by our guns. Requesting that we strip the house to its frames in search for the Wunderwaffe."

"Permission granted. Oh, and as you take everything apart. Help yourselves to the food, grab what you can and load them onto the trucks."

"What about the humans sir, should we burn them or what?"

Antosha thought of it for awhile, "Tell the conscripts to do whatever they want with them, either for food or for bond fires. I heard that human feces make good fertilizer."

"Da Comrade Colonel, the Nitrogen sure makes the plants grow."

"Its the Phosphorous that makes the plants grow, Nitrogen is just conventional wisdom."

"Oh, how do you know?"

"I'm the one who does all the research around here, that came up in one of the books."

"Well then, I should get started now."

"Yes, you should."

Antosha followed the red smurf inside and saw the massacre inside, three humans lie dead as pieces of a fourth one seemingly exploded, "Holy crap, this place is a mess... and it's _huge_."

Never before in his life had he ever been in a human structure, until now. There was no way that the red smurfs can clean all this up, even when they wanted to. The humans who regularly visit this household will catch them in the act and might call over a mob, the red smurf forces can easily deal with them but that will drain precious ammunition. The situation must be avoided at all cost.

Colonel Antosha sat back and watch as the red smurfs proceed to tear the place apart, from furniture to cabinets they opened everything up and took what they saw will worth them while. Surprisingly they hadn't found any gold, all they were taking was food. Many red smurfs pulled some bags of flour and beings onto the S-34 tanks and hauled them out of the house, others got a hold of some perishable items and divide it among each other. They seem to have remarkably changed. Though their reputation hadn't changed, their treatment with each other noticeably had. They were _sharing _for once. Not fighting for anything like soap for example.

When all the food was cleared out, they proceed to grab other things. One red smurf found a bunch of soap bars and were hauling them out using a jeep, another was ridiculously hauling off a "crap pot." The name applied to a pot where humans stick their rear ends into and drop their _load _into it. Colonel Antosha would be embarrassed if they used that as a hot tub.

"Sir," said one of the red smurfs near the bloody mess of human corpses, "Can we eat humans for food?"

"Since they try to eat us," said Antosha, "Why not?"

Like a new resource opened up to them, the red smurfs got to work on the bodies. With their machetes, they sliced off chunks of flesh from the bodies and load them into bags and trucks. It was like a swarm of ants came by and ate everything as the red smurfs pulled the bodies apart and rip them into portable sizes. Some red smurfs cut open the torso and extracted the liver, kidneys, lungs, and hearts out of the bodies. Antosha ordered the digestive tracts of the humans to be taken outside and disposed of, as they proceed to clean up the remains of what's left of the human child, "I think this ones a female." called out one of the red smurfs.

"How can you tell?" said another.

The red smurf held up a bloody pair of organs, a uterus attached to two ovaries all covered in gore. Antosha faced-palmed in disbelief, "Get rid of that!"

"Yes sir."

The red smurfs who participated in the harvest were all covered in human blood, he might promote the red smurf who found the soap bars for his find. Colonel Antosha stepped back outside and looked out towards the rising sun, _Such a beautiful morning taking place in a horrible day. _He thought.

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	36. Act III: Chapter XXXVI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: XXXVI_

The plan was to break through the ice and fish themselves dinner, it wasn't going well as they hoped. Sally sat there with her crude fishing rod and waited for something to catch the line in the modest size hole through the frozen lake. Jammy must be finishing up the shelter now and Lori must be taking care of the other things. With her butt close to frostbite, Sally considered cutting their losses and returning back to camp when she felt a tug on the line.

Her spirits rose as the tugging became harder, Sally stood firmly on her feet and pulled hard on the line. Whoever was caught down below was trying its best to get away, Sally grunt as she tried to reel in her catch.

"Come on you son of a-"

She was interrupted when her prey gave one hard pull on the line and Sally found herself being pulled into the frozen lake. Sally eventually let's go of the fishing pole and swam her way back to the surface, but when she reached the ice layer the hole she fell through was gone. Sally panicked as she began to pound her way through the ice, each blow draining her strength. The world slowly turned blue, then black.

**. . .**

Sally woke up gasping for air, she found herself on her makeshift cot all dry and well. It was just a dream, how did it happen? She turned and saw all the bones of a fish Jammy managed to catch laying right next to her, that was a lot of bones. The big meal must had gotten to her head. Sally rubbed her eyes and sat up, the crude shelter made days earlier was quite warm inside, not to mention huge. All that work putting packed snow and tree branches together had paid off.

Jammy and Lori's cots were empty, they must be getting some chores done. Sally stumbled out of the cot and sunlight nearly blinded her, when her eyes adjusted to the ambient light she saw Jammy sitting near the campfire with Lori no where to be seen, "Morning Jammy." said Sally.

"Morning Sal," said Jammy, "You sure slept in sissy, we thought you'll never wake up."

"I was tired."

"After eating all that fish."

Sally shoved Jammy in the shoulder as he laughed, then sat down next to him, "Where's Lori?"

"She's using the bathroom, Lori had been gone for five minutes now, must be one of those days again."

"Did you find the direction home bro?"

"After that chaos we went through, I lost all sense of direction. Damn colony is so well hidden, there might be no chance we would ever find it."

Lori came stumbling out of the woods exhausted, she walked up to the campfire and slumped onto her rear, "How was it?" asked Jammy.

"Relieving," she simply say, "I hadn't taken a dump in ages."

She laid down onto her back and looked straight up at the sky, "Oh I'm never going to get used to this."

"What did you use for toilet paper?" asked Sally.

Lori shot a look at her and simply say, "Snow."

Without warning two planes flew overhead, seemingly too close for comfort. Sally jumped as she watch them vanish as fast as they came, "Auroras!" cried Jammy, "Those are our planes, we must be near home!"

"Too bad they didn't see us," said Lori, "So much for help from home."

"I wonder if we ever get back home at all," said Sally, "So we won't miss all the action."

"If only we salvaged the radio back at the crash site," said Jammy, "Maybe that would have helped us."

The trio sat there in silence for a few minutes before Lori sat up, "Where's the fish we caught yesterday?"

"I think we ate it all," said Sally, "Let's go catch some more."

"Okay then Sal, lead the way."

. . .

Antosha waited in his tent for news from his field supervisor, before leaving he sent in a red smurf to watch over the cleanup operation at the human homestead. He had his feet propped on top of his desk as he laid back, interestingly the colonel enjoyed not being under the watchful eye of the general for once. He can imagine the red smurfs ousting him from power when they realized everything was his fault. Who knows, maybe Antosha would be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and make his small band of red smurfs an official regiment.

The red smurf he'd been waiting for hours had finally arrived, he could see the distinct shadow of his figure approach, "Permission to enter."

"Permission granted."

The red smurf entered the tent as the colonel sat up straight, "Did you find him," he asked, "Did you find the Wunderwaffe?"

"We stripped the house to it's frames and took everything apart," said the field supervisor, "No sign of him anywhere."

"Then we're wasting our time, he might not even be there in the first place."

"We did, however, found three of the conscripts shot dead. Ballistic analysis on the bullets recovered from their bodies said they came from their own guns, there's no evidence showing them that they committed suicide or turned on each other in anyway. It was sporadic and quick thinking, no red smurf can pull something like this off unless they have professional skills."

"Who does have such skills?"

"Spetsnaz, but there are no Spetsnaz soldiers in your army at this time."

Colonel Antosha thought for a moment, "If he could be there, how did the Wunderwaffe got out? We had that place surrounded."

"The tank division that was suppose to cover the northern part of the house had somehow delayed their approach, the red smurfs found dead were assumingly caught in the consequences of leaping before looking."

"Not surprising there."

"Even though we found no evidence of the Wunderwaffe, we did found signs of green smurf activity. Their was a cage designed for smurfs in one of the bedrooms along with a dresser full of M81 camouflage dresses."

"A green smurfette, they must had kept one as a pet."

"Yes, and due to the size of the dresses this green smurfette was pretty comfortable. Though it is unlikely that she would have military training, since green smurfs under human captivity are quite safe and is unnecessary."

"No way would that green smurfette killed the conscripts?"

"No way, she's a pacifist. All green smurfs in captivity are."

Antosha grunted, "Maybe red smurfs are to."

The colonel laid out the regional map on his desk and examined it, "Interesting, we're near the Smurf Village. I wonder what Oleg had done to the place that started this entire mess."

"Is there a chance for it to be occupied?" asked the field supervisor.

"Not very likely, the green smurfs must had taken the blue smurfs shelter inside their colony. It's too risky to send them back home at this time, and since it isn't strategically built for war it may be useless to the green smurfs. For that matter, it's open for the taking."

"May I ask what you're planning sir?"

Antosha turned towards the field supervisor, "We're going to move our camp to the Smurf Village," he traced his finger north of the colony then west of it, "Dragovich is around here, and we are around here. With a partial control of the Smurf River, we'll be able to cut off any trade the green smurfs might have with other civilizations from this direction of the river."

"You think they have some boats we can use at the colony?"

"The _S.S. Smurf II _is docked at there port, recon planes suggest it's still there. I wonder if it can hold some of our artillery and anti-aircraft guns. Since it's made out of wood, I don't think it will support the weight. It's made for reconnaissance after all."

"And not for war."

"Well then, go back to the human homestead and burned all evidence of what happened there. Humans may be the smartest species on the planet but they fool themselves too easily."

"Da Comrade Colonel, I'll have it done as you ordered."

**. . .**

The red smurf transport truck lumbered down the road at a steady paste so it doesn't attract too much attention. It failed when Cherskey and Nelly poke their little heads out of the bushes and saw it drove by, it must be the last truck leaving what's left of Fort Romanov. It may be heading to the main force, or to a smaller branch separated during the battle. With nowhere else to go, the twins decided to follow it.

"Take point," said Cherskey, "Stay low, stay quiet. Let's move out."

"Roger." said Nelly.

The Wunderwaffe Twins ran with haste down the road in an effort to catch up to the truck, after a few minutes they resume walking and ultimately stopped to rest. But only for a moment, Cherskey knew they were deep in enemy territory even when the forest became more familiar. The twins had been following the road for quite awhile now, they hope that it would lead to a green smurf outpost or to the colony directly. With the sun high up in the sky, it was too soon to check their direction. With the road their only guide, it was better than nothing.

Cherskey and Nelly made the plan as simple as possible: Break into an enemy outpost, steal a map and ride, then get the hell out of there. With the main red smurf base destroyed, the outposts in question will find themselves with a choice. Either leave and go find the main battle force of their faction, or hold onto their position and await for orders from high command. Based off of research from their father's work, the twins theorized that when red smurfs abandon an outpost they leave what they have there and take what they can carry. A gold mine of crap worth playing around with, even better when there's navigation supplies and some firepower in store.

They got back up and continued walking, just skimming the edge of the road and keeping their senses on high alert. They found what they're looking for, a red smurf outpost. Cherskey saw how small it was, the truck that had past them earlier had stopped in front of the outpost gate and red smurfs were loading supplies in the back. The twins jumped into the vegetation and got down onto their bellies, they watched as the red smurfs load up the last of many crates into the back of the truck.

"Send her away," said a red smurf in Russian, "Don't keep Dragovich waiting."

Cherskey saw the rank on his arm, the red smurf must be a sergeant or sergeant major. He tried to recall some of Chernov's homeschool lessons. What did he use to say, look before you leap? Maybe something similar.

"What are they doing Cherskey?" whispered Nelly.

"Looks like they're clearing house," said Cherskey, "And they appear to be doing a half-ass job at it."

"I don't see any jeeps to commandeer."

"We won't need them, we just need a compass, a map, and a radio. They don't seem to be carrying any guns, they may be too confident in their own security."

Nelly snorted, "Overconfidence makes you careless."

"Or they don't have ammunition to begin with, those crates say they're SK-47s and Smurfsterners. That could be their weapons they're loading up."

"Not many red smurfs to deal with- Wait, what's that?"

"What sis?"

"That, you see it?"

Cherskey saw where Nelly's pointing, at the side of the outpost walls were small logs that had been chopped. Embedded into the top of a lonely stump was a tomahawk, it appeared to be freshly used, "Goodie," he said, "Let's wait till the place clears out."

"Got it."

They sat and waited for the red smurfs to finish up loading the truck, the engine soon started up and drove off without making much noise. The red smurfs soon walked back into the outpost but left the gates wide open. When the last conscript was out of site, the twins rushed across the road and approached the tomahawk. Cherskey grabbed the handle and pulled it out of the frozen wood, it felt cold yet comfortable in his hand, "Now we're talking." he commented.

"Is there a back door?" asked Nelly.

"There's never a back door with red smurf outposts, we'll just have to use the front door and risk grabbing attention."

"Or why not-"

Cherskey heard footsteps approaching, he covered his sister's mouth and thrown her against the wall. He held onto her and shushed into her ear, "Red incoming." he whispered.

Within seconds, a red smurf strolled in lazily from around the corner. Cherskey let's go of Nelly and made quick work with the red smurf. He jumped onto the red smurf's back and plunged the tomahawk's blade deep into his throat. The conscript gurgled and choke as blood rushed his airways, Cherskey tore the tomahawk out of the red smurf's neck and he dropped like a load of bricks, "Christ," said Cherskey as he got off the red smurf's back, "They're making this too easy."

"I guess those many hours of training are really paying off." said Nelly.

"Yeah... You want the pistol?"

"Sure."

Cherskey pulled the red smurf's pistol out of it's holster and handed it to Nelly, then pulled out some of its ammunition and handed that too her as well, "Where you store ammunition?"

"Undies."

Cherskey chuckled, "Good girl, just like Mama use to say."

He searched the body and pulled out some stick grenades, he stuffed them inside his pants and wiped the tomahawk's blade on the red smurf's trenchcoat, "Help me move this fella, will you?"

Nelly grabbed the dead red smurf's feet as Cherskey grabbed the hands. They dragged the body over to the forest with a good distance away from the outpost and dumped it into a trench. After covering up their tracks, they head back across the road and situated themselves in a new spot on a hill. The hill wasn't that high and was barely noticeable, it was when they got onto the top when they could see the outpost from a safe distance with a good view.

"We wait till night," said Cherskey, "Huddle up, it's going to get cold once the sun goes down."

Nelly pressed herself against him and looked back down at the outpost, _Maybe they'll up the alert level when they find the body. _Cherskey thought.

**. . .**

After a long day on the job, Rick was very tired. He wound up emptying a bottle of beer into his stomach before slumping back onto the cot. He lay there sleeping off a good part of the day, snoring slightly, and even muttered out a few words unconsciously. What seemed to be a short while was interrupted by a blast of cold water to the face. Rick's eyes shot open and he saw Chad and Lizzy above him, "That woke him up." said Lizzy.

"What the f#ck you guys doing!" Rick muttered with utter confusion.

"We saw you past out, so we pour water on you to refresh you."

Rick sat up and rubbed his eyes, "Whatever, go away."

"Okay then," said Chad as he tossed the bucket over his shoulder, it clattered across the room and stopped right up against the wall, "See you in a bit."

Chad casually walked out and shut the door behind him, Rick got onto his feet and took off his soaked camouflaged smurf hat, "Great," he said to himself, "Now I need to dry this before I sleep on it."

"It has been awhile since you washed it," said Lizzy, "Why not now?"

Rick gave her a grumpy look, "I suppose so. You know what, let's get rid of the entire sleeping mat altogether and put in a cot. I'm tired of sleeping on bare concrete."

"Not the same with Dashie not here, huh?"

"Yeah, it feels more hard and more cold."

"Why not get a mattress instead of a cot, it's a lot better and more soft."

"Making a mattress is expensive Liz, there's a waiting list for those wanting one. Besides, it's the wrong season to get one. I'll take my chances with a cot."

Rick pulled up the mat and grabbed the file that revealed Dashie's betrayal, "The next time I see her, I'm going to have her arrested on the spot."

"You need to relax Rick," insisted Lizzy, "You have a lot of help here, you don't need to be overworked about this."

Rick walked over to his HAM radio and set a hand on it, "It's not even my first day at being Supreme Commander, and already I beginning to understand Chernov's feelings."

"You can sleep at my place tonight," said Lizzy, "I have the stove heating up the place already."

"Thanks Liz, I knew I can count on you."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	37. Act III: Chapter XXXVII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXVII_

It was a rough hike, Chernov at times had to push Cuddles along since she couldn't keep up with him. After they ran for at least half an hour, Chernov found a hollowed out log and shoved Cuddles into it. She collapsed onto the ground and started crying as Chernov slumped onto his rear, _What a wake up call. _He thought.

The walls of the log amplified Cuddles' crying, she sat up and held her head down to let out all of her grief. Chernov wrapped his arm around her and pressed her head into his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around him as he stroke her back, "There there," he said, "You're safe now."

After a few minutes of her crying, Cuddles calmed down but kept her grasp on Chernov firm. Having seen this kind of grief before, Chernov comfort her the best he can. It wasn't long before she stopped crying altogether. A minute later, she fell asleep.

Chernov laid her on the floor of the log and stepped out, he needed some fresh air. The shock that he had endured through was the most surprising moment in his life, the fact that the red smurf wiped out a family of human beings means it was a game changer. He sat down on the snow and stared out over to the horizon, it looked like there's a frozen lake in the distance. It seemed far, yet some landmarks suggest it was just a short walk. For the search of food and water, that may be the place to go.

A gust of wind blew past him, he wrapped his arms around his bare torso in an effort to retain some body heat. _God I hate this cold. _Already his rear was getting cold from the snow, yet he didn't move. He just needed a moment to think of a plan to get back home. Once he get there, he'll reorganize the green smurfs and finish off the retreating red smurf armies. But only if he can get back to the colony, which will take awhile.

He felt someone gently wrapping their arms around him, he turned and saw Cuddles behind him. She doesn't wanna leave his side, Chernov wondered if she's forever in his debt after saving her from a horrible demise. Or maybe... he's the only family she knew now.

"See that frozen lake right there," said Chernov as he pointed towards it, "That's where we'll find fresh food and water. Come on, the sun's about to set and this isn't a good place to camp."

The two green smurfs got to their feet and they head towards the lake, between them and their destination was a steep incline. It goes at least 15 meters down to the elevation of the lake, all they have to do is to-

"Oomph!" yelped Chernov as Cuddles gave him a hard shove in the back.

He dropped to the ground and his momentum caused him to roll, Chernov wrapped his arms around his head and waited for the dizzying world to settle. After a few rolls head over head, Chernov plowed into a pile of snow, the cold bite his exposed skin harder than what's on the hill. Chernov groaned as he brushed the snow off of him and sat up, he saw Cuddles sliding down the hill on her rear all the way to the bottom. She enjoyed it, and she was giggling as she got back onto her feet. _That seem to be a good sign she's finally moving on, _he thought, _I guess the family genes are kicking in now._

Cuddles walked over to Chernov with a smile on her face and lend him a hand, he grabbed it and she helped him back up to his feet, "Why!" he grumbled.

The green smurfette simply shrugged, Chernov wasn't in the mood to be angry, he knew Cuddles was speeding up the journey similar to how fast he got her out of harm's way, "Fine then," said Chernov, "Let's keep going, you can have your fun later when we find our relatives."

**. . .**

"The hole isn't big enough," said Lori, "The cold will freeze it over in minutes."

"Okay then," said Sally, "Let's make it wider."

Sally grabbed a hammer, a tool she made out of a rock and stick, and started hammering away at the ice, "Why not make an ax?" asked Lori.

"I can't find a long enough stick for one," said Sally, "Not even a stone to make the sharp edge."

"I'll go look for one then."

"Don't waste all day Lori."

"I won't Sal, there's a pile of rocks over there so there."

"I didn't noticed."

"That's why it was covered in snow, the wind just recently blew some off and revealed the natural resource."

"Oh I wish we have some manufactured tools with us, that would make our day a _whole _lot better."

"I do too."

Lori walked off, leaving Sally to tend to the fishing. Suddenly something caught the line, Sally was just about to pull it out when the line snapped, it soon disappeared into the pitch blackness of the lake below, "Oh crap!"

**. . .**

When the duo got to the lake, Chernov saw something at the other side, "Get down." said Chernov.

Chernov dropped to the ground as Cuddles dropped with him, "Look," said Chernov, "Someone's over there!"

Looking closely, the green smurfs saw two figures on the ice. One was working at something as the other was heading towards a pile of rocks. They were too far to see anymore detail of what their race might be, so Chernov couldn't tell what their faction was, "150 meters at best, they shouldn't see us if we stay low. Look, I see smoke coming out of the trees. There's more than two of them."

Chernov thought for a brief moment, "Let's get off the ice and move into the treeline, we'll walk around the lake using the vegetation to cover our approach. Once we find their camp, we figure out who they are and why they are there," he grabbed Cuddles by the hand and they got to their feet, "Follow me and stay quiet, there isn't much I can do if you get hurt."

Cuddles nodded, agreeing with him. He pulled her along and got off the lake, then ran towards the hibernating bushes nearby.

**. . .**

The sun was now skimming the horizon, it was already dark enough to where the twins can move without being spotted. Cherskey and Nelly ran towards the side of the outpost and peeked through the open gate, there's only a couple of red smurfs at a campfire. Their backs were turned towards them, they sneaked in without alerting them to their presence.

Once inside, Cherskey saw a couple of small cabins and a large one. A couple of jeeps and a light-armored tank were parked around the back, followed by some crates of ammunition for that tank, "What do we do Cherskey?" whispered Nelly.

"I'm thinking," he whispered back, "Grab a radio, a weapon, and something we're able to drive and get the hell out of here."

One of the red smurfs started to turn around, the twins quickly ran behind one of the buildings for cover, "Okay," whispered Cherskey, "I have a plan."

"Does it involve blowing up some of the explosives and stealing a vehicle right under their noses?"

Cherskey gave her a puzzling look, "In fact it does..." _I'm way too predictable for my own sister. _He thought.

"Okay, how about-"

An explosion interrupted Cherskey mid-sentence, the vibrations nearly knocked the duo off-balance. Once the noise of the explosion subside, they heard red smurfs scream. But it doesn't sound like they were panicking, they sounded like they were angry. Cherskey and Nelly looked around the corner and saw several red smurfs yelling at each other, the light armored tank was now a twisted shell of its former self. The turret was blown off, flames billowed out, and it appeared that it was dismantling itself from the intense heat. Cherskey can't believe their luck, he thought he would be here all night to pull the plan off. He watched as the red smurfs started throwing fists and punches at each other as the commanding officer there tried to break it off: It was a perfect distraction in the making.

"Let's go!" he said.

The twins kept to the side of the outpost walls as they made their way around the show that was unfolding, once they made it to the other side they saw the jeeps completely intact and untouched by the explosion. Keeping their heads low, they made their way towards the closest jeep and climbed into the seats as the red smurfs a meter away increase their aggression upon each other, "You know how to drive?" asked Nelly.

"Yeah," said Cherskey, "You want to take the wheel awhile I get the 3mm machine gun?"

"Sure."

Nelly got behind the wheel as Cherskey climbed behind the wheel of the machine gun, he settled into the seat as he cocked the gun. The sound of metal parts clicking into each other caught the red smurfs' attention, _Oh sh*t! _Cherskey thought.

His sister started up the engine as he aim the gun at the red smurfs, "Drive sis!"

Nelly shifted the gear to drive and she floored it as Cherskey fired upon the red smurfs, he managed to injure a couple of them and killing one in the process. The twins drove out of the outpost and onto the road, heading towards the setting sun, "Keep at it sis!" said Cherskey, "They may be on our tails yet!"

**. . .**

Chernov pushed aside some vegetation and peaked through it, he saw a makeshift shelter made out of packed snow and branches. It had a rectangular roof and a square frame, whoever built it was trained well. Chernov looked further into the camp and saw a green smurf tending to a fire, he was soon relieved that it was a friendly. Even better, he knew who it was. All those bruises and scars on the green smurf's body mean one thing, the green smurf was Jammy.

He turned back towards Cuddles and put his finger over his lips, then gestured to follow him. Jammy's back was turned towards him, so Chernov had no problem tiptoeing towards him without making much of the sound. Once he got within arm's reach, Chernov wrapped his arm around Jammy's neck and gave him a choke hold, "Oh God," he screamed like a little girl, "Please don't hurt me!"

The way he said his plea meant that he knew he was screwed, or so what it seemed, "Never let your guard down Jammy," said Chernov, "Maybe I'll beat the sense into you like old times, add some marks to your growing collection for you to remember."

Chernov let's go of Jammy and he spun around, "Oh crap, Chernov!" he cried, "I'm glad too see you! Wait, am I going insane!"

"I thought I was until I saw your mug." chuckled Chernov.

Jammy got onto his feet, "You came here to save us?"

"Whose the green smurfs on the frozen lake?"

"Sally and Lori."

"Well, let's fine them."

Jammy saw Cuddles approach, "Uhh... who's...?"

"I'll explain once Sally and Lori's here." said Chernov.

Chernov, Jammy, and Cuddles made their way to the lake and called out for the green smurfettes. Sally got off of her rump and rushed towards them as Lori came running from the pile of rocks with a stone ax in her hands, "Chernov," pant Sally as she put a hand on her chest, "Oh my god, I didn't expect you to find us?"

"Neither have I sis." said Chernov.

"Whose the big girl here?" asked Lori as she pointed towards Cuddles with her ax.

"Let's head back to camp and I'll tell you what happened."

The green smurfs made their way back to camp, they sat down around the campfire and got themselves settled in, "You didn't answer my question earlier," said Jammy, "Did you come to save us?"

"No," said Chernov, "I'm also MIA, so what happened to _The Baron Avenger_?"

"The bomber was shot down," said Sally, "Me, Jammy, and Lori were the only survivors. I don't know if there were more or not."

"You've accomplished your mission Sally, I had an army surround and raid Fort Romanov. Once we got in there, our blue buddies told me about the aftermath of your work."

"Oh, what did they say?"

"They told me the red smurf general in command of the place was furious, and so executed a relative of ours. That relative happens to be Baldwin."

"Baldwin," asked Jammy, "Sh*t, no wonder he went missing. Had we known that he was there-"

"He wasn't the only green smurf Jam," said Chernov, "My own two children were kidnapped along with the blue smurfs."

Everyone went silent for a moment, "Are they okay?" asked Lori.

"The general had them shot, they took the bullets and somehow managed to escape after being injured."

"Oh my god!" cried Sally.

"Oh I'm getting to the good part, the general's high-ranking officers started to turn on him. We got them divided in their leadership alright, clearly we found someone to blame of this tragedy."

"So what happened to you?" asked Jammy.

"We were getting the blue smurfs out of there and I was injured in the process, first I was shot by sniper and then blown up by an enemy artillery shell. Everything went numb after that, Rachael tried to get me out but she dropped me. I heard her run away as I loose consciousness so I know she's alright."

"Were you later saved?" asked Lori.

"Laura, aka Cuddles' owner, found me. You know about the domesticated green smurfs our Dad brought to the world right? No need to explain anything there."

"No need indeed," Jammy let out a smile, "Chad told me about his encounter with Cuddles."

"Laura's father called in a doctor and treated my wounds, I got a moments of rest before the red smurf's come knocking. To wrap this all up, the red smurfs murdered everybody and I managed to get myself and Cuddles out of their house before they burned everything."

"That's horrible!" cried Sally.

"Well now I have to find Cuddles a new home, might as well give her to Chad as a reward for our victory in Fort Romanov."

Everyone chuckled, "I'm sure he'll like that." said Sally.

All the green smurfs laughed, "I bet he will." said Chernov.

"Wait," said Jammy, "If you were shot and blown up by an artillery shell, why don't you have any noticeable battle wounds on you?"

"What?"

Chernov examined himself, the gauze wrapping had fallen off, revealing healthy skin. There was no sign of any wounds nor scars on him whatsoever, "I was hurting when I regained consciousness."

"Since you're wearing no jacket and your pants had holes," said Sally, "I believe you. You are the Wunderwaffe after all, I do remember during the Humanoid Wars you regenerated quickly after that enemy human stabbed you."

"Maybe I past this trait to my children, I've trained them for this kind of scenario. I'm sure they're alright."

**. . .**

The red smurfs quickly caught up with the twins in the remaining jeep, Cherskey fired away at them as the red smurf machine gunner fired back. They couldn't get clean shots since they were moving all over the place, "Keep going faster sis!" cried Cherskey.

"I'm trying," cried Nelly, "Damn jeep is too slow!"

Cherskey fired a few sporadic rounds at the red smurfs and managed to put a round into the body of the enemy vehicle, it did no damage to the jeep's performance whatsoever. He had fired a machine gun before, but not when it was mounted on a moving vehicle. He struggle to line up the iron sights and put a few rounds at the perusing red smurfs but they were moving all over the place. A round whizzed by Cherskey's shoulder, he felt the wind whipped past his skin, "Damn it," he cursed, "Take a detour Nelly!"

Nelly veered off the round and plowed into the ditched, Cherskey struggled to hang on as they plowed through mounds of vegetation, jumped a small cliff, and crashed deep into a pile of branches and snow.

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	38. Act III: Chapter XXXVIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXVIII_

Something crashed nearby, causing the group to be cautious, "What was that?" asked Jammy.

"Did something crashed?" asked Lori.

"I think so," said Lori, "What do you think it was?"

"I don't know," said Chernov, "There's only one way to find out. Lori, let me see that ax you made."

Lori handed Chernov her stone ax and the group head over to the source of the crashing sound.

**. . .**

Dropping to a steep level brought a lot of hurt to Cherskey, he banged himself into the machine gun but didn't break anything. It was only a bruise, he was more concerned of his sister at the moment, "Nell," said Cherskey, "You alright?"

Nelly was still holding onto the steering wheel, she turned around and gave Cherskey a look. She had a bruise on her cheek, but nothing that appeared serious, "I'm fine bro."

Cherskey got down from the gun and flopped into the snow below, Nelly climbed out of the jeep and helped her brother up, "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"Go back to the drawing board," said Cherksey, "Since- Wait, I think somebody's coming."

"I hear it, I don't see a hiding place around here."

"Don't bother, we have nowhere else to go now."

**. . .**

The group rushed over to the source, they found a jeep partially sitting on it's front bumper. Behind it was a path of destruction on the face of a hill, trees and branches had snapped off from the vehicle's weight, flattening the vegetation into the snow. Sitting next to the jeep were two green smurflings, Chernov recognized them at first glance, "Holy crap," he said, dropping the stone ax, "Cherskey, Nelly, is that you?"

"Dad?" cried Cherskey.

"Daddy!" cried Nelly.

Nelly got up and rushed into her father's arms as Cherskey sat there in utter confusion, _What deity made us do all this? _He thought.

"I was starting too loose hope!" she cried.

"I know what happened to you guys," said Chernov, "I know how they treated you."

"I don't blame you Dad," said Cherskey as he got back up onto his feet, "There isn't much you can do in the first place."

"The war isn't over, we need to get back to the colony. Somehow."

"Is that Cuddles?" asked Nelly.

Cuddles simply waved, "Yeah," said Chernov as he put his daughter down, "Long story, I'll explain later. Right now we must find our way back home."

"We don't have a direction to go to." said Sally.

"I know this forest well like it's the back of my hand. We have to head south, that's where the colony and the village are. The sun will be our guide for the day and the stars at night, we can't waste anymore time than we have too."

Chernov picked the stone ax up and handed it back to Lori, "We have some weapons back in camp," said Sally, "A couple of SK-47s, nothing special or anything."

"They'll do for now."

"We also have a jeep we can use, though I don't know if it's battery is still good or not."

"You can use the battery in the one Nelly wrecked," said Cherskey, "Oh, I think some red smurfs are finding their way down here so we best hurry and get out of here."

"Sibs, let's break camp and get a move on. I think the war is heating up, so we must get back home and reorganize the army to put a death blow to the Red Smurf Army... or risk extinction."

"Lead the way Chernov," said Jammy, "I trust you in this."

**. . .**

Antosha and his army managed to make his way to the Smurf Village's exact location, he was surprised to find it covered with frozen bodies of red smurfs. Parts of their skulls were blown off, arms and legs were amputated, and a downed vertibird lay in a pile of twisted metal and burned wood: The defending actions of the Wunderwaffe.

The red smurfs went to work cleaning up the mess, the colonel sat back and watched them dig a big hole and tossed all the bodies into it. Thankfully it was winter, if it was spring or summer then everything would be more hazardous, not to mention the smell of death. Once the bond fire was started and was burning the bodies to ash, Antosha decided to investigate the mushroom houses of his adversaries.

He approached one house, the colonel noted that the wooden door only had a handle and not a knob. Antosha simply gave the door a push and it gave in without any form of resistance. _This peaceloving species deserve to die. _He thought. Colonel Antosha took that thought back once he got inside, this mushroom house was loaded with books. A symbol of intelligence. Books covered the furniture and floor, some stacks even reached the ceiling. He can't help but give his enemy respect, it's best to keep it to himself since respecting the enemy is a sign of defection to the eyes of the average red smurf. Unless your Dragovich.

Antosha spotted a desk and approached it, on it was a stack of manuscript papers. They were typewritten. Seeing the typewriter wondered if this was the Wunderwaffe's house. No, it's too smurfy, as a blue skin would say. This couldn't be his house. He stepped out of it and something catches his eye, a smokestack. It wasn't wood, it was metal. A sign of green smurf activity.

"Attention!" he called out to his nearby red smurfs.

The subordinates who heard him stiffen as those who don't carry on to cleaning up, Antosha pointed to a couple of red smurfs, "You two," he said, "Follow me."

"Yes Comrade Colonel!" said the red smurfs in unison.

The red smurfs followed the colonel all the way to the suspected home of Chernov Reznov. When they approached it, Antosha' suspicions was confirmed when he saw the security bars and steel industrial door. _Looks like the Wunderwaffe was paranoid._ He thought. "Soldiers," he ordered, "Get that door open."

"Yes sir!" they replied.

The red smurfs walked up to the steel door, one of them touched the door knob and got a nasty surprise. Antosha jumped back as lightning and electricity came out of the red smurf, his body was struck by the massive sparks and was knocked to the ground. The red smurf who touched the doorknob was blasted back, his hand was annihilated in the process. He dropped and rolled onto the ground in a violent seizure for a few seconds before going limp.

"Medic!" cried Colonel, "Get a medic over here!"

A medic soon arrived, "Tend to that one, he got the worse!"

"What happened!" cried the medic, "What happened to his hand!"

"He triggered a trap, I think he was electrocuted!"

"Damn, a bottle of vodka won't be the answer this time!"

As the medic went to work on the red smurf as Antosha checked the one who got indirect contact with the trap. He checked his pulse, nothing. Colonel Antosha went to work and giving him CPR, after a few agonizing seconds the red smurf coughed and gasped in fresh air. "What happened?" he asked.

"You were shocked by the Wunderwaffe's trap," said Antosha, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for saving me. I didn't know you can do CPR."

"Anyone can do CPR if they know a thing or two about oxygen."

"He's dead Colonel," said the medic, "He's bleeding from the mouth, he's gone."

Antosha helped his subordinate up, "Throw him into the fire along with the Wunderwaffe's victims, they will be honored after this war."

"Yes sir."

A red smurf came running out from nowhere, "Sir," he said, "We got a green smurfette here that wished to see you!"

"A what?"

"She said she work's for Dragovich."

Antosha remembered something, Dragovich did say he had a spy in place, "Where is she?"

"Right this way."

Antosha followed the red smurf, the red smurf took him to an area where several of his subordinates had their guns drawn in a circle. In the center of that circle was a green smurfette, she had black hair and was wearing the clothes of a red smurf. With trenchcoat and all, it was an unexpected and ironic sight, "Dragovich speaks highly of you," said the green smurfette, "My name is Dashie Reznov, I had been working with your superior officer for quite awhile now."

"I'm surprised my men hadn't shot you yet." said Colonel Antosha.

"They didn't need much persuading."

"Yeah, they don't," he gave a cold stare at his red smurfs before returning his attention back to Dashie, "Why are you here?"

"I had to leave the colony since they were on to me," explained Dashie, "I brought with me some useful intel and such."

She pulled out a thick folder packed with documents out of her trenchcoat and handed it to Antosha, "Thanks," said Antosha, "I'll read these later."

"They're going to be sending a recon team to the Smurf Village to check if it's safe for the blue smurfs to return, with the downfall of their leader I'm sure they won't be much of a hassle."

"I heard about the Wunderwaffe's demise, they must be having a hard time finding a successor."

"That successor happens to be my boyfriend, he told me he can't handle the pressure of being a full-time leader. Now he's at wit's end, and he will soon be forced into making a decision. I know of a road they will use in order to get here, have your forces ambush them here. Don't kill them, we need them alive. And I want to see the looks on their face when they see one of their own had betrayed them."

"Can we trust her Colonel?" asked a red smurf.

Antosha stared at Dashie for a moment as he thinks, her evil grin suggest she's to be trusted, "She might be a double-agent for all I know," he said, "But since we won't be hearing from Dragovich for awhile, this will be the only lead we have. First we rest for tonight comrades, tomorrow we put the defector's plan into action. If anyone were to harm her in anyway, I'll have them shot. That's an order, got it?"

"Da." said the red smurfs in unison.

Colonel Antosha returned his attention back to Dashie, "Don't abuse it, I'm not saying I trust you but I'm still mad at Dragovich for the lost of our main base."

"Maybe after all this is over, you can lead a civil war in claiming his place?"

"Ah, that is a nice idea. I like how you think, what had you been doing on your free time?"

"Sit around, get drunk, stuff like that."

"Interesting... Sounds like my subordinates alright."

"No where close, we have a diversity of alcohol at the colony. Maybe when a red flag flies over it, your men might get a taste of our liquor."

Antosha saw that she got the red smurf's attention, "Okay everybody, move along and get back to work!"

**. . .**

It wasn't much of a ceremony, in fact there wasn't a ceremony at all. Rick just announce his change in permission from Lieutenant Commander to Supreme Commander on the radio, he doubted anyone cared. They all know he wasn't cut out to be a leader, but someone had to do it. There was no one else that can do it for him. Even with the help from Papa Smurf and Grandpa Smurf, they couldn't do much. They're for peacetime, they weren't cut out for war. Suffice to say Rick's own siblings couldn't do much help either, they lack the experience needed to coordinate an army. They can keep the colony running for awhile, but not lead an offensive.

_An offensive, _Rick thought, _We can defend the colony from the largest red smurf attack possible but cannot coordinate an offensive, why does Chernov have to be the one with the most military experience?_

Of course he had lead an army on an offensive, but he just follow orders. He had no strategy, just do what Chernov tells him to. With that in mind, he can pull of his objective without a problem. With Chernov out of the picture, he wasn't so sure now. What his half-brother left behind, this clue of this single photo from what he captured from Fort Romanov, may be the only lead they have towards victory. They must know more, the only place where they can get that knowledge is maybe at his own home.

He succeeded in sleeping throughout the entire night, yet he struggled to make it through the entire day. It was barely 10 hundred hours, two hours before he officially takes total control of the Green Smurf Colony. Announcing it all on the radio early was just to save time, since he found himself sleeping at his desk, snoring away.

"Rick." he heard a voice say his name.

He looked up and saw Papa Smurf walking in, "So how do you wanna start the day Paps?" asked Rick, "Some time later in the afternoon, you wanna make the journey back to your village or make it soon?"

"We're in no rush," said Papa Smurf, "You look very unsmurfy today, had you slept well at all last night?"

"Yeah, I slept on a cot Lizzy help brought in. It's great in all but I feel like I cannot solve these two problems we have over our heads. One, how to solve this puzzle Chernov unintended left for us; second, how to coordinate an offensive without having too many casualties. Before we came along, had you ever defended the Smurf Village like this before?"

"No. We did have a couple of human armies at our doorstep once. But we weren't their target, the village was just caught in the crossfire."

"That's it?"

"Yup, that's it."

"So it's when the green smurfs came along, well first Chernov then us, is where you guys started having these problems?"

"Your father exposed our weaknesses, some we know, most we don't. Me, and especially Chernov, tried our best to keep the green smurfs from corrupting my smurfs. I don't think that's possible now."

"Before we rescued you guys, he told all of us he gave up on preventing corruption. It's all about survival now."

"Figures."

"Speaking of Chernov, his research may be the key on defeating the red smurfs. I can't place my finger on it, but I think he may be on to something. Something about the green smurfs, a key to solve our problems. Can you round up a team for a recon party at the Smurf Village?"

"I can do that, I'll see what I can do Rick but you're the one who's leading the green smurfs now."

Rick grumped, "You don't need to say the obvious Paps."

He turned back towards his radio and turned it on, "Chad, get Rachael and Lizzy here to the Command Center. And do come along as well, we may need you just in case this operation get's out of hand."

"Sure thing Rick." said Chad.

Rick sat the microphone aside, "You ever had technology like this before?"

"On occasion we do get something similar," said Papa Smurf, "We once had vehicles as you green smurfs call them."

"What happened to them?"

"Gargamel destroyed them, we just simply went back doing manual labor and what not."

"Looks like a bad move on your part. If you stick with new technologies, I don't think you would ever need protection at all. Who knows, you might even drive the red smurfs back and you would never need us."

"Maybe that would change after all this is over."

"Yes, if we managed to get the red smurfs out of our backyard that is. Since I never been to the Smurf Village myself, I need you to help guide me around. Are you up to it?"

"It's my little smurfs' village, I'll gladly smurf you around."

Rick chuckled, "You sound like my father, he also call us little smurfs. That's because he had a good reason why, since we're only. What, 7.8cms tall?"

"In metric?"

"You still figuring it out?"

"Yup."

"It's only been around for at least 300 years, not to mention it was invented in the neighboring country of France. Your 5 and half centuries old, what were you doing all that time when the world is adopting this system?"

Papa Smurf gave him a look, "I cannot explain it in a language you cannot understand, even Chernov will find that it makes no sense at all."

"Okay then..."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	39. Act III: Chapter IXL

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XXXIX_

It was a rough night, but for Chernov it was kept soft. Metaphorically and literally, as Cuddles used her body mass to keep most of the group warm as he slept with his kids tucked underneath his arms. The trip yesterday was long and excruciating, nobody complained, including Cuddles. They got as far away as possible from the crashed jeep, using Sally's captured jeep to cover a lot of ground. Cramped as it was, they prevailed.

Chernov awoke and saw the sun crept up above the horizon, he sat up and nudged everyone awake, "Everyone up," he ordered, "Now."

"Can we rest?" asked Sally.

"We just did."

"How many kilometers do we have to cover today Chernov?" asked Jammy.

"We should be there by nightfall if we take few breaks," said Chernov, "Up everyone, I'm not dragging you the rest of the day."

"Fine." grumbled Lori.

_Always my siblings are lazy. _Thought Chernov.

He helped Cherskey and Nelly and out of their shelter, once the group was up they dismantled their shelter and destroyed all evidence they had even been there. With that done, they continued south as usual.

**. . .**

Rick awoken feeling good, it must be the cot Lizzy provided for him to sleep on for the night. He got up, slipped on his pants and hat, and went out to eat breakfast at the Command Bar. Walking in, he saw the place packed. Most of the smurfs here were blue, Rick swore he saw Greedy in the kitchen in the back. He sat down in a vacant stool at the bar and waited for Jack to come over.

"Slept well Rick?" he asked as he wiped a plate with a rag.

"Yeah," said Rick, "You can thank Lizzy for that."

"What did she do?"

"She got me a cot to replace the butt rag I had, it feels good not to sleep on a hard surface."

"You'll be heading out for the Smurf Village I hear, with who?"

"Papa Smurf, Rachael, Chad, Lizzy, and a few other smurfs. I think Hefty is going to come, along with Handy and Grandpa Smurf."

"You'll be taking out one of the smurfvees?"

"Yup. Look bro, I need something to run on for today. Can I have the protein bar and some spruce tea please?"

"Sure, I'll fetch it right up."

Jack walked off to the back, leaving Rick to sit there thinking to himself. The protein bar is a mixture of wheat, granola, honey, and raspberries. It said to be an equivalent of 3 meals in one day. Green smurfs consume this bar before heading off to battle, but it's far from being sweat. Smurfs who eat it say it taste bitter, the honey and raspberries in it help make it manageable. Jack soon returned with the protein bar and spruce tea, "Here you go Rick." he said as he sat it on the bar.

As Jack went on to tend to other smurfs, Jack ate his protein bar. It tasted like crap, but well seasoned crap. It didn't cause Rick's face to sour, nor did it make him more green than he already was, it was all what he needed to beat all the sleep right out of him.

"Thanks for smurfing me outta there Rick," said a voice, "I owe you one."

Rick turned and saw Brainy dropping down into the stool next to him, Rick noticed that Brainy's scalp was wrapped in bandages, well covered by his white smurf hat, "How you're doing Brainy?" Rick asked.

"I'm doing fine. Ever since you got me outta there, I felt the smurfiness return to me."

"What did they do to you?"

"They were torturing me psychologically, I couldn't stand one smurf of it. I managed to use the distraction you guys created to break out of my prison cell, and smurfed up the place for your arrival."

"How are you taking Chernov's death?"

Brainy didn't answer right away, "It's hard," he rest his forearms on the edge of the bar and looked away for a moment, "I didn't know what to do now. Next to Papa Smurf, Chernov was the only friend who understands me the most. He even helped me with my work. I just don't know how to move on without him."

"I'm trying to figure out where he left off, Chernov never makes things easy."

Brainy returned his attention back to him, "Isn't that so Rick. Maybe I'll help you at a few things, smurfs some advice along the way."

"The advice I can do without, but with your hands I cannot function without," Rick pointed a finger at him, "If you can help me keep things organize in the colony Brainy, I might as well get you a position in the cabinet."

"The what?"

"Chernov calls it that, sometimes he calls it the politburo. It's a group of smurfs who keeps certain parts of the colony's infrastructure organized and well maintained. It's my cabinet now. I had considered getting Tesla replaced since he's too mentally unstable to have around, maybe I'll give the position to you if you want."

"I'll think about it Rick. I had my taste of power once, it did not end well."

"Yeah, Chernov told me. I guess I'll see you later."

"Bye Rick."

"See yeah."

Rick got up from his seat and head out the door, before he left he saw Brainy looking around sharply. It almost as if he was looking for something he'd lost, he didn't give it much thought, _Must be a built-in habit from being locked up for so long. _Rick thought.

**. . .**

After a bit of a drive, Colonel Antosha followed Dashie's instructions and found a good ambush spot at the only road directly connecting colony to village. The road was wide, yet unnervingly translucent. Antosha wondered why it hadn't been discovered by humans yet, a part of him wondered if he was even looking at the road at all. Seeing no other option, the colonel left most of his red smurfs back at the Smurf Village just in case the green and blue smurfs slipped past them. He's not risking bringing a majority of his forces this close to the Green Smurf Colony on someone's word, especially if they were a member of their enemy.

"Turn off the road here and park," said Dashie, "Everything that must be done can be accomplished on foot."

The driver of the command jeep pulled off the road and drove behind some bushes before stopping, Antosha and Dashie got out as the driver stayed put in his seat, "After several flybys of this forest," he said, "We weren't able to spot this road, even when we can see the ground without obstruction in winter."

"Chernov doesn't use the main road when he comes to the colony and back," said Dashie, "He uses smaller roads, some known to red smurfs. It's a big mistake to ambush him on these roads." Dashie snickered and looked down the wide road carved out by green smurf machinery and abuse, "Rick's not that bright, he'll use this road for sure. I know it."

"He better," said Antosha, "Or else we're wasting our time."

When the truck carrying a squad of red smurfs caught up with them, they pulled off the road and stopped. Right behind them was a S-34 tank, Antosha thought that if the green smurfs were coming through here in an armored vehicle, it's best to bring in heavy firepower. Just in case.

The tank pulled off to the side of the road and stopped, no one got out of it when it's engine shuts off. When the squad regroups with Antosha, he gave them their orders in a stern voice, "Get into position and hide, and make sure our vehicles aren't scene by the road. Put your camouflaging skills to good work comrades, and maybe there would be some hard liquor when we get back to base. Remember, if any green or blue smurf comes by you capture them and _not _kill them. If you disobey this order, you'll be shot without mercy. If you massacred the entire party, I'll dump you within enemy lines and move on as if you never even existed. You got that?"

"Da Comrade Colonel." said the troops in unison.

**. . .**

Rick got the truck ready, the green smurf transport truck will carry him, Papa Smurf, Hefty, Handy, Rachael, Smurfette, Chad, and Lizzy down to the Smurf Village. Though Rick had a feeling he had forgotten something, he assured himself that everything was accounted for. As most of the squad was in the back, Rick got behind the wheel as Papa Smurf sat beside him, "You sure we'll need weapons?" he asked.

Several RS-100s and SIRs were in the back with the group, Rick insisted they'll need it because there's no telling what lurks in and around the Smurf Village after weeks of vacancy, "We'll need it," said Rick, "So... let's get started."

The newly appointed Supreme Commander started up the engine with a press of the ignition button, when he stepped on the accelerator the truck silently lurched forward and drove off. After passing down the roads, they exited the colony and drove onto the main dirt road linking two different smurf civilizations directly together. It had been awhile since this road was last used. That feeling Rick was having was now building up in his chest, the farther he drove from the colony the stronger the feeling.

"Are you okay Rick?" asked Papa Smurf.

Rick told him the truth, "I can't shake this feeling that something bad was going to happen, or I forgotten something. No wonder we're bringing weapons for this trip."

"I wish we don't have to use them."

"Still recovering from getting out of Romanov?"

"The nightmares smurf to the core."

"It's exactly what I felt, but it wasn't so strong. Green smurfs are bred for this, but still we must have empathy for whose life you take. Chernov on the other hand, has no empathy for the lives he take, every time I see him in a fight he kept his cool and does what he needed to do. He doesn't hesitate, not one bit."

"He once shot Feathers one time, or nearly shot him. He claimed it was by mistake, but when I saw the rounds he used they were bean bags. When I noted this, he told me he was going to shoot the squirrel to protect his recent kill, as he called it, when it slipped and went off. Loose primer he says. I was skeptical at first but when the squirrel appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his kill, he went ballistic. He was cursing madly as he fired madly at the squirrel, missing each shot. The squirrel eventually got away, he stormed back to his house and never spoke with anysmurf for the rest of the night. The next day, he went out and tracked down the squirrel and euthanized it with his machete. He said he tracked it down back into it's home but never said what else he found there, no smurf said anything after that."

"I remember that day when we first met, a few days after you guys ran into me in the woods. You remember that first assault on the red smurfs, right?"

"I indeed do."

"When I first killed some red smurfs, I felt what you felt. Chernov saw this and privately confront me about it. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me, screaming: _They were trying to kill you for Christ sake, there's no reason you should feel sorry for what you did! _He said some more, actually had me by the throat when he was chewing my ear numb. By the time he realized I was scared to death, he simply asked: _Better? _I told him yes. He left after that. Later that day, the empathy subside and it became easier. Though it almost came back when I saw Chernov killed a red smurf with his machete, the way he did it... it's like he enjoyed it! No wonder Dad named him the Wunderwaffe, war seemed to be his favorite hobby in the world."

"I know why. He's trying to protect us, so if he enjoys it then he protect us better. I asked Chernov what were his views on war like, he told me it's evolution and if you don't take lives then you die as well. Natural selection, he gave me an hour long lecture slash answer to get his message across. That was only like... what, 2 months ago?"

"His children understand better, the way he teaches them made be believe they're still alive out there. Somewhere. Who knows, they might as well find a fate just like Wild Smurf for all I know."

"I agree with you, but on a more sophisticated level. Clearly they're not going to speak and act like animals."

"Okay."

There was a brief moment of silence before Rick remembered something, "Oh Papa Smurf, once we get there how are we going to get into Chernov's house? Does he have some locks and security system as such?"

"Yes, but Rachael should get us in without a problem. She knows how to operate that kind of stuff."

"No sh*t." said Rachael from the cargo bay of the truck.

"I bet you do sis, I bet you do."

Up ahead, at least 10 meters away, a transport truck slowly drove perpendicular to the road and stopped in the middle. Rick's heart sank when he saw the red star at the door of the vehicle, "Aw hell." he cursed sorrowly.

"Can you turn this around?" asked Papa Smurf.

"No, I'm afraid not." said Rick.

Rick started to slow down and eventually stopped half a meter away from the truck that blocks their path, "Why are we stopping?" asked Handy.

"Because we've just been ambushed by red smurfs." said Rick sarcastically.

Red smurf troops slowly surrounded the truck with weapons drawn, they screamed in Russian and repeated the same words over and over again, "Out of the truck," came the translation, "Now green skins!"

Rick unbuckled his seatbelt and held his hands in the air, "What's the plan?" asked Rachael.

"No plan, we're f*cked." grumbled Rick.

Papa Smurf unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the passenger door, a red smurf grabbed him and pulled him out of the truck rather roughly. Rick opened his door and stepped out nonchalantly with both hands in the air, he found himself with two red smurfs as they aimed their weapons at him. One of them grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to the side of the road as the others work getting his friends and relatives out from the back, a rather old red smurf wearing lime green officer clothing approached Rick with a grin on his face, "Usually the squad leaders drive the vehicles when going on an objective," he spoke in fluid English, "Are you not that leader?"

"Yes." he said.

"More importantly, are you the leader of your colony?"

"Yes."

"Just what Dashie had said."

That's when Dashie approached, his heart sank further into his stomach upon the sight of her, "Put your hands down!" she insisted.

Rick dropped his hands, "Why Dash, why are you doing this?"

Dashie snorted, "I never liked you guys anyway, ever since the start."

A red smurf behind him hollered in Russian, Rick turned to see his friends and relatives lined up at the side of the truck. Their weapons were taken away and tossed into the red smurf truck that stopped them, "Well this sucks." grumbled Chad.

"We'll walk from here," said the old red smurf, "By the way, name's Colonel Adrey Antosha. If Dashie said is true, then the Wunderwaffe is dead."

"Chernov, his name is Chernov, nothing more."

"A half-brother he was," muttered Dashie, "You just made it too easy for us Rickie, too easy."

**. . .**

Hours of walking seemingly led nowhere, yet Chernov began to become familiar to the forest. Maybe they'll turn this into a win yet. His kids kept a close distance with him as his fellow half-siblings follow behind, he wasn't worried for any of them wondering off without warning. He can trust that they stick to him, a part of him wasn't so sure.

They continued to walk until something caught Chernov's eye: tire tracks. The tire patterns were zig-zag, not blocky, which was normally seen on green smurf vehicles, "Crouch guys," he said as he held out his hand and waved down, "Stay quiet, something's up."

All the green smurfs crouched without question, with Chernov leading the way they followed the trail which leads up to a patch of bushes. He pushed some of them back and saw what's behind them, "Say not a word everybody," he whispered, "But you gotta see this?"

"What?" whispered Jammy.

The group peaked over the bushes and saw what Chernov was seeing, a group of red smurfs hauling off their friends. Not only that, but they see Dashie pointing a gun at them, "Oh that traitor." whispered Sally.

"Not surprised," whispered Chernov, "She was built to spy on us."

"There's Mama." whispered Cherskey.

Chernov saw Rachael among the group, there were tears in her eyes. She had given up. Dashie saw his and whipped the butt of her pistol hard onto her cheek, "Shut up fatty!" she barked.

For some reason the group giggled, even Chernov and his twin children couldn't help but laugh. But seriousness reassured itself when the red smurfs began taking them away, "I know of a place where we can hold them Antosha," said Dashie, "It's very secluded, we won't be having visitors raining on our parade there."

"Lead the way comrade." said the old red smurf.

In gunpoint, the group of blue and green smurfs were taken through the forest on foot. Chernov and his squad watched as the red smurfs took their friends into the woods and vanished into the vegetation, several other red smurfs got behind the wheel of their tank and truck and followed behind with them. The rest of the vehicles such as the green smurf transport truck and the red smurf jeep were left where they parked. The tank and truck plowed through the vegetation, leaving gaping maws behind as they head of to their destination.

Once the coast is clear, Chernov stood up straight, "Follow them smurfs," said Chernov, "We gotta save them."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	40. Act III: Chapter XL

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XL_

Chernov and his squad followed the red smurfs as they kept a comfortable distance away from them. The tank and truck were having a hard time making their way through the forest, the frozen earth and vegetation proved rough on the vehicles. Either they weren't designed for the job or the drivers were cautious. Who knows, they might as well break down and be stuck in the mud. The tanks and trucks didn't make it that far anyway, after 20 minutes they pulled into a clearing and stopped.

The squad hid in the vegetation and observed the area, it was a small clearing, other than the S-34 and transport truck, the only thing here was a moderately-sized cottage made for smurfs. It appeared to be green smurf design, and it also was in bad shape. Windows were broken, others were boarded up. The metal roof was covered in a thick set of red rust, the walls tainted with mold and decay. The only thing that was in good shape was the taunting red smurf flag being flown on a good-sized flagpole planted on the front yard.

The red smurf who drove the truck came out and walked towards the cottage, armed with a Smurfsterner. The hatch to the S-34 opened but nobody came out. No one was guarding the place, nor were they paying any attention. Since the coast was clear, Chernov signaled his squad to move up to take a closer look. He approached one of the derelict windows and peaked through it, he saw Dashie and a red smurf tying up his friends and family with rope, "5 reds, 1 defector," said Chernov as he stepped away, "We can't just walk in there and be heroes, not going to happen with all that firepower they have in there."

"Any ideas then?" asked Lori.

"We can create a distraction and lure some red smurfs away," said Sally, "Then move in and secure the cottage."

"How about throwing a flash-bang in there and gun them down?" asked Jammy.

"The 9 banger will only give us a few seconds," said Chernov, "We need more time."

"Hey," said Sally, "Where's the twins?"

The squad looked around and noticed they had wondered off, as if on cue they heard a soft thud nearby. They turned towards the source and saw a red smurf laying face down beside the S-34 tank, his throat slit open with brute force. Nelly sat on the turret of the tank as Cherskey was probably inside, "They're onto something." said Jammy.

They jogged to the tank and Cherskey poked his head out, he asked, "Help me with this, will you?"

**. . .**

As his conscripts were busy securing their prisoners, Colonel Antosha decided to check out the interior of the cottage for anything peculiar. As far as he can tell, the place was trashed and in ruin. The plastered walls were decaying, eaten up by mold and rot. The wooden floors showed signs of a former beauty, now gone from abuse and neglect. There wasn't much inside the cottage, just two rooms. The main one probably once had a bed and a suitable living splace. Now there was nothing here but a wooden table, worn down so severe that it looked like it was going to collapse under any form of weight.

The back room appeared to be a kitchen, it had a wood-powered stove that appeared to be in good condition. He opened some of the cabinets and found forgotten dust. Upon shutting the door he eyed the icebox at the far corner of the tiny kitchen, it was white, an appropriate color to keep something preserved. It looked like it was in good condition on the outside. Antosha grabbed the knob and opened it: empty. Frustrated, he slammed the door shut. The icebox jolted backwards and thumped against the wall, _If there's a basement here, _he thought, _I'll assume its empty as well. _

He headed back to the main room and something caught his eye on the wall. The green smurf flag that was big enough to fly on the flagpole outside, hanged gracefully on the decaying wall. Somehow he missed it when coming in. Ironically it appeared similar to the red smurf's flag. Both flags had a hammer & sickle adorning them. On the red smurf flag it's placed on the upper left corner awhile retaining a small space as the green smurf flag had it's symbol taking up the center. The colors that make up the flags were the last difference. The red smurf flag had a red background with its symbol gold as the green smurf flag had a white background with its symbol green. Among all the crap in the cottage, the flag was in the best condition. It looked like it was made yesterday.

Respectfully, Antosha decided to leave it up.

"Comrade Colonel," said Dashie, "We're done."

With the prisoners sitting against the wall that divided the cottage to 2 rooms, Antosha was sure that they won't be slipping away unnoticed, "I'll take over from here Dashie." said Colonel Antosha.

It was a bit dark from the boarded up windows, but there was enough light for him to see their expressions. The blue and green smurfs were huddled together like mice, some had their heads down, others retained a confident but pissed off posture. Might as well start with Rick, he called out his name and the green smurf leader gave him his attention.

"Now I don't know what to do with you Rick, nor was this my idea. But I'll see to it that I have something in store for you."

"This wasn't your plan to capture us?" asked Rick.

"It was mine." claimed Dashie.

"No wonder the ambush was so familiar, it was well planned but not sporadic like previous attempts from the red smurfs."

"Ever since you wiped out our base," said Antosha, "I was forced to lead a couple of regiments and a tank division outta there. With the red smurf general nowhere to be found, I decided to occupy the Smurf Village and await further orders. Did you know what we found there Supreme Commander?"

"Bodies?" Rachael blurt out.

Antosha glared at her for a moment before returning attention to Rick, "Frozen corpses of red smurfs laid buried in snow and ice, left there for scavengers. Cleaning up was a hassle, but it wasn't too bad since their wasn't anything to do at the time."

"How many bodies were there?" asked Papa Smurf.

"Look at that, a the village leader around my age whose still concerned about his home from the damage done by red smurfs – and the resolution from the green smurfs. There's at least somewhere between 63 and 67, all were killed in the most brutal way possible without being up close and personal."

"Great Smurfs..."

"And get this, after a bit of an investigation we discovered 2 areas covered with 3mm used casings. This type of ammo is only eyed for either a machine gun or a sniper rifle. Red Smurfs who participated in the raid said that there were at least two snipers firing at them. Since Chernov was one of them, who could the other one be? I don't need to ask since, based on the information I'd gathered, that the individual as already admitted it."

Antosha gave Rachael another look, "It's just so happened to be the mother of Chernov's kids."

The green smurfette scooted up into the wall in response, she began to shiver, a sign of weakness, "Dragovich had my kids shot." she muttered.

"I saw it myself, the boy was confident but the girl had all but given up. I don't exactly approve of my superior's decision, in fact it contributed to my frustration with him, but I was _so _angry with him when they escaped after they were shot. Like what, a dozen times? Slipped through a crack through Fort Romanov's walls and poof, they're gone! With the injuries they sustained, the chances of them surviving are very slim. They might as well be lost forever."

Rachael held her head down in distraught, Colonel Antosha turned towards Dashie and asked, "This is your idea, what do you want to do with them?"

**. . .**

"You want to do what?" asked Chernov in surprise.

"Below a hole through the wall," said Cherskey, "With the right amount of gunpowder we can blow a hole through the wall without killing everybody but just enough to stun them."

"Okay, but I'm not going to have you fire this war machine. Lori, get into the turret and aim it. Cuddles, kids, get back. The rest of you, on me!"

Cherskey and Nelly got off the tank as Lori climbed inside it through the turret's hatch. Jammy and Sally readied their SK-47s as Chernov got out the one he found in the jeep his children had crashed. Cuddles, Cherskey, and Nelly stepped back and watched as Chernov and his two half-siblings got into position."

"Start her up!" called out Chernov.

The S-34's engine roared to life with a monstrous groan, nearly startling Chernov, _Must be running off of diesel. _He thought.

**. . .**

Rick heard the commotion outside, the sound of an engine roaring had peaked his curiosity. Some of the red smurfs were distracted by the noise, including Antosha. Dashie, agitated beyond words, approached the window and looked out, "What's out there?" asked Antosha.

He turned away from Rick, with the reds' eyes diverted he began to untie the bonds around his wrists. During the Humanoid Wars, Chernov had trained him about undoing bonds, you have to twist and turn the bonds in a certain way and they'll loosen. Sure enough he got the ropes loosen just enough where he can pull his hands free but still tight enough to appear they were still secured. His friends noted this but kept to themselves.

Dashie went to the window at the other side of the room and looked out of it, "What the fu-"

The wall burst and was inhaled by the cottage in a violent explosion, all the red smurfs and Dashie were knocked to their feet as shrapnel and debris cut through their bodies. Dust was kicked up in the air to the point where Rick couldn't see, he took the moment to pull the ropes off of his wrists and began to work on removing the bonds off of his friends. Red smurfs furthest from the explosion quickly got back onto their feet with their weapons drawn, but paid no attention to Rick. Colonel Antosha was wounded, yet he slowly tried to get back up. Dashie laid knocked out, she had shrapnel wounds on her torso and limbs but appeared to not be immediately fatal.

Their was some screams and hollers from the red smurfs, then gunfire opened up. Rick watched as three figures from outside gunned down the red smurfs where they stood, basically unloading a clip to everyone. Some stray rounds went through the wall above them, causing him and his friends to drop down to the ground. Antosha took a bullet to the chin and his head shot back, knocking his officer hat off as he dropped back onto the floor. Once all the red smurfs were down, the firing stopped.

Rick didn't get up, laying on his belly he looked up and saw the dust cloud clearing up. It revealed a gaping maw where the wall once existed. He couldn't believe what he was seeing when a heroic-looking tall green smurf came walking through it with a messiah posture, "Chernov!" Rick cried as he got back up to his feet.

"You can't get rid of me that easy," he laughed, "I thought I was in the most trouble, but seeing you reminds me that I miss putting up with you guys."

Jammy and Sally soon appeared behind Chernov, "Bloody hell," said Jammy, "We made this mess!"

Sally went to work untying the blue and green smurfs, when Rachael was free from her bonds she shot up and plowed into Chernov with a big hug to wrap around him with, "I'm sorry!" she sobbed.

"It isn't your fault," said Chernov, "Even if you got me outta there, I would had still died from my injuries. I'm glad you didn't risk your neck out to come back for me, since I managed to get a good glimpse of a huge-ass red smurf army behind us before blacking out."

"We all thought you were dead," said Hefty, "Boy you're one tough smurf."

Once everyone was untied, they got back up onto their feet, "Looks like you're weren't alone." said Papa Smurf.

Rick turned his attention out through the massive hole and saw what created it, an S-34 tank with the barrel still smoking hot. Lori popped her head out of it and scrambled off to the side where she vomit out her lunch. Next to the tank he saw an obese green smurfette with Cherskey and Nelly, immediately a long list of questions came to his mind, "I found the kids Rachael," said Chernov, "They're fine despite being shot, seems that we have to thank my genes for that."

"You don't appear wounded," said Rachael as she let's go of him, "I noticed."

"Regeneration, kind of reminds me of the time when Gargamel broke my rib with a rock."

"Mama!" cried the twins outside.

They started to run towards the cottage but Chernov stopped them, "Don't come in here, it's too much gore for you to handle all at onceI" he turned his attention back to the group, "It was Cherskey's idea to use the tank, don't ask how he got that idea because I just don't know."

Rick noticed Dashie stirred and raised up her head, within a fraction of a second she reached for her pistol and held it straight at Rachael, "Watch out!"

Chernov was quick, he pushed Rachael out of harms way as he kicked Dashie's hand, disarming her in an instant. The gun clanged against the wall then dropped to the floor out of Dashie's reach. The force of his kick had turned her onto her belly, she grunted as Chernov placed his foot on her back. Without saying a word, he held up his SK-47 to her head with one hand and fired a few rounds into the back of her head and neck.

Seeing Chernov executing Dashie made Rick's stomach turn, but for once he had no feelings for her. He had already let her go before he made the fateful trip. Everyone was shocked, the look of Smurfette's face told him that she was taking it more harder. He didn't wanna see Papa Smurf's reaction, the village leader must be just as surprised, "I saw Dashie's betrayal," said Chernov, "I never liked that green smurfette since the day I first saw her mug. I can't believe all that work into helping her was all for nothing."

_Defuse the aftermath Rick. _said a voice in Rick's head.

"Remember that file you picked up at Fort Romanov?" he asked.

"What about it?" asked Chernov.

"It has something that may reveal the red smurf's final base."

"I guess I'm to blame in getting you into this situation, if I hadn't picked up that file..."

His voice trailed off before turning to Papa Smurf, "Might be more of a disaster than we previously thought."

"It was our focus since we got back to the colony," said Papa Smurf, "It kept us going, otherwise we would still be in a hole of despair."

"We'll take a better look at this file once we get back to the colony. Before we'll leave we'll set this place ablaze destroying whatever evidence of what happened here. Traitor or not, we'll bring Dashie home where her body will meet the same fate: Straight into the incinerator."

"Okay guys," said Chad, "Let's clean up then clear out."

**. . .**

No one said anything during the trip back to the colony, Rick sat there motionless in the passenger seat as Chernov drove the transport truck back home. When they got back, Rick was in no mood to use the HAM radio. Chernov, who doesn't want to do anything else either, went back to his spiderhole and jumped into his sleeping cot. Now alone, Rick head back to the Command Center and examined the place. Empty beer and moonshine bottles were still lined up against the wall and were also sitting on top of the computers. With a mixture of frustration, anger, and grief, Rick grabbed the nearby recycling bin and stuffed it with all the bottles. When it got full, he sat it outside the door for the sanitation workers to collect.

He grabbed the nearby broom leaning against one of the printing machines and began sweeping the floor of crumbled papers, dirt, and other kinds of trash. He swept it out of the Command Center through the door in big strides, blowing dust all over the front yard. After several minutes of sweeping he went on dusting off the machines and cleaning their monitors. With all that done, he sat the duster and broom back in their corner and slumped onto his new bed. Even after all the cleaning, the place still smelled like booze. It brought back too many memories. It wasn't the end of Dashie's relationship that stricken him, it was her betrayal. He just didn't expect to end like this.

He didn't blame Chernov, even though he shot her. It was following an old policy that dates back to their Great-Grandfather, the policy states that those who betrays the state are shot. It sounded like what the red smurfs codes were, but there are common ground however. The war had already stretched for almost a month now, was it 28 or 35 days? Rick couldn't tell for sure. Why would Dashie go on and break his heart in the midst of thinking Chernov was dead? Why would she do that? More importantly, how long had she been a defector? A few weeks, a month, maybe a year, or during the Humanoid Wars? He doubts that Dashie kept a journal, she's too smart to record such info.

For Rick it was time to move on, no longer he had to concern a fellow green smurfette for her drinking habits. No longer would he have to put up with her being grouchy. It's all in the past, and should stay in the past. Gone, forgotten, no longer a problem or inconvenience. But still, the after-effects of all that yelling and asshole behavior was still there. Still hovering over his head like a dark cloud, waiting to release its lightning.

Someone knocked on the door, Rick sat up straight to look presentable, "Come in."

The door opened and Chernov stepped on through, wearing a pair of fresh camouflage clothes including a fresh jacket. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, "I'm sorry Rick, I'm sorry you have to deal with the stress from my absence... and Dashie's betrayal."

"You did what you have to do Chernov," said Rick, "It was your call to take her out."

"I wish it wasn't, had she not drew her gun she might be still alive. Come to think of it, I don't want to see what our relatives would do to her. I prefer the brawls, not stoning and hanging whatnot."

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was, until Rachael woke me up and had me go talk to you," Chernov pulled up a chair in front of Rick and sat down in it, "I don't know what you've been doing during your taste of power, but you seemed to keep things straight."

"I did absolutely nothing, the focus was only in this file you had us brought over."

"I guess my reputation precedes me then."

"And your influence."

Chernov made a grin, "Enough nonsense, what is it that you want me to look at in this file?"

"It's on the table."

Chernov turned back towards the round table and saw the file sitting at the edge, he grabbed it and opened it up, "The photo clipped onto the folder," said Rick, "That's what got our attention in the colony in the past few days since you were gone."

"The double helix statue?"

"Yeah."

"Hm. I had seen this before in person, but I can't remember where it was. All I know is that the double helix represents our genetic code. Techically, it's the green smurf's genetic code immortalized in stone."

"Why would our DNA be carved out of stone?"

"I don't know, since the red smurfs gotten a hold of this I'm beginning to think Dad isn't telling us everything," Chernov looked up at Rick, their eyes locked onto each other, "I think Dad had been influencing with them."

"Oh hell," said Rick sarcastically, "He doesn't even know the reds."

"I'm not saying he had worked with them nor did I say he even knows them, I'm saying that the red smurfs must had gotten a hold of sensitive technologies of his. If that's true, then the red smurfs may had already won the war."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	41. Act III: Chapter XLI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XLI_

Scouting the skies as usual, Fugere considered sleeping in the next day. She forgotten how long she had been in the air and how many hours she taken for recon flights. Tired and at the point of falling asleep behind the controls, Fugere wanted to just go home before her shift was over. Without warning something caught her eye on the recon monitor in front of her. Seeing that she had found something interesting, Fugere went on full alert and zoomed in on the camera. It looked like a squad of red smurfs, heat signatures emanating from the humanoid figures say otherwise. They were maybe 20 of them, they were all heading for a single location. Tracing the path in front of them, Fugere discovered a mountain complex sprawling with activity. Twinblades were everywhere and prominent AA guns pop-marked the site. What is this?

Fugere thought for a moment. With Fort Romanov destroyed, this may be the red smurf's new primary base. Or this could be a major branch that had departed from Fort Romanov after its fall, maybe it was the reinforcements that drove the green smurfs out after they broke their blue buddies out. Seeing that she may be on to something, Fugere radioed in her findings, "Return to base Euro Eagle, what you found may turn this into a win yet."

Smiling relief, she turned her spyplane around and head straight back to the Green Smurf Colony.

**. . .**

Sergei kept a brisk but nonchalant pace as the squad of conventional and Spetsnaz conscripts followed Dragovich. Earlier the general insisted they should walk, wherever they were going wasn't that far, along the way Oleg wouldn't stop talking about his previous missions on how well – or horrible – he performed. Sergei was forced to listen since it kept his mind sharp, but it wasn't enough to shake the feeling in his gut. Something was up, the feeling was increasing as a mountain started to loom over them.

General Dragovich said in the briefing before the trip that the mountain was actually a chemical complex for the red smurf army. He wanted to check on it since it was full of weapons of mass destruction that the green smurfs would no doubt love using. Recently they used some of the industrial-strength chemical agents to wipe out vast areas of the forest nearby. Dragovich didn't say why, classified information was all he would say

The squad wasn't marching in formation by rank as they normally would, they walked rather than marched, in random formations. Dragovich didn't wanna push them today since this was suppose to be a simple check up operation. The Spetsnaz had their weapons drawn but few conventional soldiers had theirs out too. Sergei didn't thought much of it, since Oleg wasn't going to shut up anytime soon.

"The elves were scared sh*tless when we came charging in there," said Oleg, "We got out our flamethrowers and burned everything to a crisp!"

"When was this?" Sergei unconsciously asked.

"Two days ago."

"Damn."

"I swear Sergei, if you ever plan to have a BBQ on a Saturday afternoon, this is the way to go – during wartime of course."

"I heard you sat a Spetsnaz soldier on fire."

"Oh that guy was an idiot, he just walked into my path without paying attention as I had my flamethrower all the way to the max."

Sergei didn't believe him. Colonel Izotov happened to be there, he claimed that Sergeant Oleg Dragovich was spraying fire all over the place and nearly burned his own troops. Some Spetsnaz conscripts were considering to demand his resign. General Dragovich will see to it that his cousin will get punished, word was that Adrian was going to take over his cousin's Spetsnaz force once he's gone.

Up ahead fellow Spetsnaz soldiers guarding the place took notice of the incoming patrol, and so opened the gates without question. The squad went through without being stopped nor bothered, Sergei didn't looked at the faces of the guards. He knew they prey on weakness, especially doubt. Once he was inside, he can now breathe easier. The interior of the mountain complex had ugly gray iron floors, walls, and ceilings. The doors were clearly made out of steel, the doorknobs were made out of copper, the hinges out of brass. Sergei noticed that anything that you can put your hands on, such as the safety rail of the stairs they were going down, were made out of copper.

This was unusual to him, he was used to stained oak rails and golden doorknobs. This place wasn't built for luxury, it was built for storage. That became more apparent when they go deeper into the complex. Sergei began to smell a strong bleach and vinegar solution, a sign saying _Chemical Laboratories_ next to some double doors in the hall explained the smell. The odor was burning his nostrils, had someone vigorously cleaned this place?

"Had you been here before sarge?" asked Sergei.

"Yeah," said Oleg, "I don't remember the smell being this strong."

"That's because there's more chemicals here than before coz," said General Dragovich up ahead, "Which is contributing to the reason why we're here. The complex had green smurf aircraft flying over it, we're making sure that they're not getting their hands on these chemicals."

"So we're going to destroy some?" asked Izotov.

"Not exactly, chemicals aren't easily disposed of. I had already stopped the production of the deadly chemical agents, I'm trying to get rid of them by using the chemicals against the local populace. After seeing the destruction they'd caused, I'm convince that we may have to seal up this place or else a foreign power will use the chems for their own devious purposes," he then turned around and looked back at the squad, "Oleg, Sergei, get up here. Might as well have you two take a quick peak of what's up ahead."

A solid bulkhead door sat at the end of the hall, Sergei and Oleg grabbed the head and twisted it. The locking mechanisms slide out of the frames and retract into the door, the two pushed it open and stepped on through. Inside was a vast hall, an enormous room that was maybe 4 meters tall and 2 meters wide, stocked with multiple different chemicals from floor to ceiling in durable rust-resistant drums. Chemical warning labels were everywhere on the barrels, skulls and crossbones cannot alone explain how deadly these chems were, "This hall stores the most deadly chems," said Dragovich, "We'll spray a dissolving solution over the barrels just in case they leak in the future, then bury this place in concrete to seal it off from the rest of the world."

"How strong are these barrels?" asked Izotov.

"They can withstand a direct it from a missile launcher, the containers may look cylinder but the insides are hexagonal. Design and a good mixture of titanium and platinum is what keeps these barrels from escaping. Do you know that these are the same barrels we use for outdoor trash cans?"

"I noticed they were unusually thick, I thought they were designed to contain an explosion if one were to drop an IED in them."

"Which is why we also use them for outdoor rubbish bins."

After passing several rows of contained chemical weapons, they reached another bulkhead door at the end of the room. This one just as solid, "Sergei," said Dragovich, "Open that door."

"Yes sir."

Sergei grabbed the door's valve and twisted it, the mechanism retracted and he pushed the heavy door open. Inside was a much smaller room, crates of weapons lay at the sides of the room. A couple of tanks of some form of chemicals sat at the corner of the room. The most stunning feature was two walk-in chambers at the far end of the room. It had thick windows to view inside and doors lined with a water-tight seal. They were wide open, ready for whatever it was supposed to be used for.

What happened next wasn't clear. Sergei felt something hard coming down on his head and the world went numb, he felt a couple of red smurfs picked him up by the arms and started dragging him. He thought he heard screaming and arguing, when his consciousness came back to full view he found himself being thrown into one of the chambers.

The door shut behind him and locked seemingly by itself, still disoriented to get up he laid there trying to figure out what was happening. He noticed Sergeant Dragovich and Colonel Izotov in the room with him, Oleg tried to get the door open as Izotov madly yell at the window. Seeing that he was in a dangerous situation, Sergei quickly got back up onto his feet, "What's going on!" he cried.

He looked out the thick window of the chamber and saw Spetsnaz conscripts were forcing the conventional soldiers into the chamber next to them by gunpoint. The regular soldiers were shocked and confused, not angry like Izotov was. Once they were all in the chamber next to them, the door was sealed and locked, "I'm sorry friends," said General Dragovich, "This must be done."

_This can't be happening! _Sergei thought.

"Adrian, you bastard!" hissed Izotov, "After all these years of service, you turn against us!"

"I had been planning this ever since we left the Urals," explained Dragovich, "I just don't know who to get rid of first. Fort Romanov's downfall was part of the plan, now it's your turn."

"A plan, a plan of what?"

"Simple, watch."

The chamber next to them began to hissed and groan, Sergei watched as nozzles sticking out of the ceiling belched out a green cloud of gas. Some of the soldiers slumped onto the ground ground appearing to have given up, other soldiers made a mad dash to get the door open, the rest were experiencing the effects of what the gas was doing to them. They grabbed their throats, stumbled, then collapsed. A few regurgitated, then collapsed. One red smurf tried to use his ushanka as a gas mask, but he soon dropped like a fly. Their eyes, nose, ears, and mouths bled as they twitch and scream on the floor in pain. Within a few moments, there were no more screams left. The toxic green gas engulfed the entire room and hid what horrors it unleashed in its haze.

_Now our turn. _Sergei thought.

A century and a half of friendship Adrian Dragovich, all came down to this? Sergei rushed up to the window and pleaded, "It is not too late for us Adrian, let us go and we'll help you with whatever plan you had in store!"

"Too late already." grumbled Oleg.

Sergei kicked in in the gut, he let out an oof as he landed on his rear, "You are already helping me with my plan," said Dragovich, "Cause within minutes, the green smurfs will attack this place and you'll be the ones to greet them."

Several Spetsnaz soldiers looked at him as if he was crazy, as if on cue the intruder alarm sounded, "Is he working with the green smurfs!" barked Oleg.

"No," said Izotov, now calmed down, "He's working with himself."

Dragovich and his Spetsnaz forces ran beside the chambers and disappeared, a few stayed behind and took shelter behind a couple of columns. The bulkhead door up at the front of the room suddenly burst opened and a couple of green smurfs ran in. Somehow, the door to the chamber popped and it creaked wide open. Seeing this as an opportunity to get out of here, Sergei drawn his SK-47 off of his back and ran out of the chamber.

"The hell you're doing Sergei!" asked Izotov.

Once the Spetsnaz soldiers gunned down the green smurfs, Sergei mowed down the Spetsnaz soldiers. Oleg soon joined him and got his weapon out, within seconds both Spetsnaz and green smurfs forces in the room were dead, "I don't understand what's happening." said Oleg.

"We have to get out of here," said Izotov as he grabbed a weapon off of one of the Spetsnaz conscripts, "Adrian might have this place rigged to explode."

"Where did they go by the way?" asked Oleg.

"There," said Serge as he pointed to where they went, there was a hatch on the ceiling with a latter underneath it, "The hatch must be locked, we must find another way out!"

"Are you sure it's locked?" asked Izotov.

"I'm not opening that hatch regardless!"

"I may know of another way," said Oleg, "We have to go back the way we came then make a series of turns that would eventually lead us back outside."

"Sounds like a plan." said Sergei.

"Oh hell," said Izotov, "I hadn't been through such combat since I was your age."

"Would you slow us down?" asked Oleg.

"I hope not."

Sergei still couldn't wrap his mind around Dragovich's betrayal, he hadn't trust anyone more than him. He said it was planned, Sergei wondered what he was planning and why he had killed so many of his own soldiers. Maybe the next time he encounter him he'll explain himself, but Sergei does not see that happening anytime soon. With the clock against them, the triad reload their weapons and head out the door. Just when they got back into the large hallway the ground shook, several barrels topple over, forming an avalanche. It blocked the way they came from, somehow not releasing the chems in the process. Guess General Dragovich was right about the durability of the barrels.

"Do we have to dig our way out?" asked Izotov, sounding agitated.

"No," said Oleg, "Follow me, there's a vent we can use to get out of here."

An explosion came from above, Sergei looked up and saw 3 green smurfs fast-roping from the hole they made through the ceiling. The triad split up and dove for cover behind different barrels, he peeked over and saw the green smurfs removing their harnesses from the ropes. Sergei aimed his assault rifle at them and fired a few quick burst, a couple bullets brought down one green smurf awhile the rest scattered. Oleg and Izotov took their turn and fired as the green smurfs shoot back. They were sporadic shots, the bullets bounced off the barrels and dangerously flied all over the place until they lost momentum. Sergei brought his head down for a moment, when he looked back up he noticed the green smurfs were gone.

_Where did they-_

Sergei heard screams coming above him, he instinctively dodged roll out of the way in time as the green smurf came crashing down where he once stood. Was that an ambush method he tried to pull? The green smurf oofed as he slammed faced down on the metal floor, he pulled up his RS-100 and aimed it at Sergei. He instantly felt the shock of surprise, but next he heard a click. The gun had jammed from the fall, the green smurf quickly tried to unjam it but Sergei quickly fired shots into his head and chest. The green smurf rolled onto his back and died instantly, the gun still firmly in his grasp.

"Are you guys okay?" Sergei call out to his friends.

"Yeah." said Oleg.

"I'm good," said Izotov, "Where the other green smurfs?"

"They seemingly vanished."

"Well let's get outta here before they come back!"

"I'll keep watch as you make your way through the vent." said Sergei.

"Okay comrade," said Oleg, "Just stay close behind us."

Izotov followed Oleg as he made their way towards the vent, Sergei saw that Oleg was heading towards one of the many wall vents in the room. He quickly followed behind as he kept a close eye behind them. The green smurfs could be anywhere, Sergei knew how smart they were, "Here it is," said Oleg, he grabbed the vent door and pulled it out of its slot and sat it aside, "This is part of the emergency ventilation system, just in case the barrels were to leak. They all lead straight to the surface."

Oleg climbed into the vent as Izotov followed, just when Sergei was just about to follow he heard and explosion behind him. The blast was so loud and powerful that he didn't look back, he went straight into the vent and pushed his friends further down the vent, "Watch it," said Izotov, "No telling what kind of spores lives in here."

"Had this vent ever been used as it was intended?" asked Sergei.

"They test it once in awhile," said Oleg, "But never in an actual emergency."

Sergei looked back and saw a thick cloud of orange smoke engulfing the room behind him, when it started to creep its way into the vent Sergei panicked, "Move, move, move, move! We got gas following us!"

Oleg and Izotov looked back and immediately crawled faster down the vent, the triad turned right, then left, and right again, then another right. Sergei looked back and didn't see the gas, he was just about to believe they outran it when the vent started to buckle, "Stop," cried Oleg, "Everybody stop!"

The group stayed still and try not to move, they held their breath for a moment, hoping the vent won't collapse. It didn't, "Oh," said Oleg, breathing a sigh of relief, "I thought it was going to-"

CRACK!

The vent gave and collapsed, it bent and crashed into the room that was underneath it. The group groaned as they crawled their way out of the vent, "Oww," complain Oleg, "That was nowhere close to bullets."

Sergei got back onto his feet and helped Izotov out of the fallen vent, he coughed as he brushed the dust off of his uniform, "Curse whoever built this place." he grumbled.

"Where are we?" asked Sergei.

The room they had fallen into looked like a lounge. The table in the center of the room was crushed by the vent as it broke their fall, some of the chairs were destroyed awhile others were left untouched. There was a fridge and a stone counter up against the wall, all looking fairly clean. On the counter sat several rounds of magazine clips for their guns, the group grabbed a few and stashed them into their pockets, "Okay," said Oleg, "New route, we'll take the elevator shaft but not the elevator itself."

"Why not the elevator?" asked Sergei.

"Cause the stairs would be occupied by the green smurfs, during this kind of emergency the elevators are disabled to prevent being used. They'll lead us up to the highest floor, then we'll fight our way out from there."

"Right." said Izotov sarcastically.

Sergei opened the door and saw a couple of Spetsnaz soldiers at the end of the hall, they turned around and saw Sergei. They stood there for a moment looking at him, then looked at each other. Finally they aimed their weapons at Sergei, he slammed the door shut in response and quickly dropped to the floor. Bullets punchered through the door and impact against the back wall. Izotov stood beside the door and held his gun behind it to fire back, he unloaded a full clip out through the door until the wave up bullets stopped. Sergei quickly got back up and reopened the door, one of the Spetsnaz soldiers were down as the other was trying to reload. He fired a few rounds at the Spetsnaz soldier, the traitor stumbled backwards and fell to the floor with his limbs spread out.

"I guess Adrian had given orders to shoot his own," said Izotov, "With any luck, we might find some conventional soldiers willing to fight by our side."

"There aren't any stationed here," said Oleg, "Not enough fighting experience or clearance, the only conventional soldiers here were the ones killed in that chamber. But who knows, there may be some here, but it's highly unlikely."

The triad made their way down the hall, they made a turn and saw a Spetsnaz soldier at the end of the corridor. Just as the conscript was aiming his gun, an obese green smurf suddenly appeared and tackled the red smurf, the force of his momentum plowed both smurfs into the next room where they engage into a fist fight. The group continued unobstructed and past several more hallways before they reached the elevator. Oleg pressed the button to call the elevator, within seconds it opened. They rushed inside and Sergei it the button that closes the doors.

"Give me a boost Sergei." said Oleg.

Sergei crouched and Oleg got onto his back, he pushed the emergency door on the ceiling of the elevator open and crawled onto the top. He lend down his hand and helped Sergei up, next came Izotov, "I hope the elevator's cables don't break." he grumped.

Once the triad was on top of the elevator, Oleg started up the elevator at the side of the shaft. Sergei looked up the elevator shaft and saw how far it goes, it almost felt like looking down, "Come on boy," said Izotov, "Make haste!"

Sergei snapped out of his gaze and head straight for the latter, Izotov followed right behind as they climb towards the surface. The metal bars put a strain on Sergei's hands more than his feet, he tried not to pant as he got to the halfway point, "I'm going to the gym after this," comment Colonel Izotov, "My arms hurt."

_Old age is taking a toll on the red smurf. _Sergei thought.

When they reached the top, Oleg groaned, "This is going to be tricky, bear with me here."

Oleg gave the elevator doors a solid kick, the doors caved in and fell down the shaft. Sergei made the mistake and looked down, he saw doors fall onto the actual elevator and crashed. The echo pierced his ears, his heart race as he try to focus what was at stake. He took a deep breath and sighed and watched Oleg hopped through the open doors, "Come on Sergei," said Oleg, "If you fall, simply grab onto the cables. They're coated with rubber so you won't injure your hands."

Sergei hesitated for a moment, then stuck his foot through to the next floor. He leaped and made it onto the floor without difficult, "There's one hurdle down," relieved Sergei, "Come on Colonel, you can make it."

Izotov stepped onto the edge of the floor, just when he was making a leap across his foot slip and he collapsed. Sergei and Oleg caught Colonel Izotov in time before he fell down the elevator's shaft, they grabbed onto both of his arms as he flailed his legs, "Goddamnit." he cursed.

Oleg and Sergei pulled Izotov out of the elevator's shaft and took a moment to relax, "Thanks," said Izotov as he leaned against the wall, "I'm not sure if I would get out of there by myself."

"Come on," said Oleg, "We're not that far from safety now."

The triad pushed down the hall and turned, what they saw shocked them. The Spetsnaz conscripts were engaging battle against the green smurfs awhile several conventional red smurf conscripts were fighting for their own lives. The green smurfs blocked the way out as the Spetsnaz were hunkered down in a secretary desk, the conventional red smurfs thrown together a small barricade and were trying to shoot their way out. The triad dropped to their knees and shuffle towards their suspected comrades, when they saw them they didn't show aggression towards them.

_Thank god. _Sergei thought.

"Comrade Colonel," said one of the red smurfs, "Why are our own forces shoot at us?"

"The general has gone rouge," said Izotov, "He tried to kill us with chemical agents but the green smurfs intervened, everything happened around us was the result."

"Who do we fight?" asked another red smurf.

Sergei thought quickly and expressed his decision, "We fight everyone. We fight everyone and anything who stands in our way. Now does anyone have grenades?"

"I have a couple of stick grenades." said a red smurf engineer, he tossed a couple of stick grenades to Sergei.

"Let's make them count."

Sergei removed the cap and pulled the ball inside the handle, he let it cook for a couple seconds before throwing it over the barricade. The grenade flew halfway across the room and landed in the secretary desk, it exploded, killing or fatally wounding the Spetsnaz conscripts. Next Sergei threw the other grenade at the green smurfs, they retreated when the grenade reached them. It exploded, blowing apart their small garrison, "Push onward!" ordered Sergei.

The triad and the 7 conventional soldiers pushed through the green smurf's barricade and into a large hanger, it looked three times more bigger than the chemical storage room Sergei was in an hour ago. They stood at a balcony that leads down to the floor, the large open space was filled with both green and red smurfs. Spetsnaz soldiers shoot at the conventionals as well as the offending green smurfs. The confusion was so bad that conventional soldiers were shooting each other, there was no help the group can do for them. At the other side of the hanger was the outside, bright sunlight crept through its open gate.

There was nothing for the group can do for the conventional red smurfs in the room, it was either get out or die, "Stick to the side of the room," said Izotov, "Just run, only shoot when you need to."

Sergei looked down below them and saw a couple of green smurfs lay dead on the floor, the grenade must had killed them. Seeing them made him sick to his stomach, _Ignore it Sergei, _he thought, _You did what you have to do. _Sergei followed Izotov and the rest of the group as they made their way down some stairs, once they were on the floor they stick close to the side walls and used the massive crates and Twinblades for cover. Somehow either side didn't see them, they were too busy being shot at to notice them escaping. Fellow soldiers, that's who they are. The ideologies were similar, yet the code of conduct was remarkably different. Sergei didn't know how to put it, a thought crossed his mind that this may be a part of Dragovich's plan. The thought made him shiver to his core.

The group was close to being out of the clear, close to getting away. They reached the brim of the hanger and stepped onto its balcony, looking for the saftey rails they saw the mountain goes at least an estimate of 50 meters down. To a human, it's twice the distance of walking across the street. But to a smurf, it's a mile long. Sergei gulped, now was the time to come up with a new plan.

"How do we get down Oleg?" asked Izotov.

Oleg simply froze, he saved the colonel his answer as the old smurf cursed, "Does anyone have any rope we can use to get down?"

A red smurf held out a single pair of climbing cord with a clip, Izotov clipped it onto the safety bar and tossed the other end over the cliff, "You guys go first, wait for us when you reached the bottom."

"Da Comrade Colonel." said a red smurf.

One by one, the red smurfs took turns climbing down the mountain. They hopped down the mountain face in large archs, Sergei noted they were going a little too fast. Once they reached the bottom, they ran off into the woods and out of site. It wasn't long before Oleg, Izotov, and Sergei are left, "You go Colonel," said Oleg, "That way-"

Sergei saw a Spetsnaz getting an RPG ready, once it was loaded it was aimed _towards _the group, "Down, down!" cried Sergei, "Down the rope, now!"

Izotov and Oleg saw the RPG as it was fired, the triad immediately hopped onto the rope and slid down as fast as they can. Sergei was at the bottom, he saw Izotov and Oleg slid down almost faster than him. Once his feet touched the soil, he caught Izotov in time as Oleg slowed down, "Oh my god," he yelped. Oleg jumped down and held out his hands, his gloves had failed to protect him from rope burn, "Why the-"

_BOOM!_

Sergei looked up and saw a plume of smoke, emerging from the cloud was a couple of boulders that were broken off from the mountain. They were careening down towards them, at a fast pace, "Out of the way!"

The triad bolted to the forest, behind them the boulders crashed into the ground. The kinetic energy caused the group to bounce into the air and tumble onto the ground in a painful stop. Sergei groaned as he laid there faced down, _Where are those red smurfs? _He thought.

He looked up and saw they were nowhere in sight, either they had deserted them or had ran a little farther into the forest to wait for them. With them gone, it was now him, Izotov, and-

"Freeze!"

Sergei looked up and saw a green smurf holding his SIR at him, the barrel appeared to be designed for the shotgun rounds, "Don't make any sudden movements your you'll be shot!"

He held up his hands, "I surrender!"

The green smurf flinched, "Holy sh*t, you understood a word I'd said."

"So are my friends here."

Izotov turned over onto his back as Oleg pressed his face into the grass, soon more green smurfs showed up and surrounded the trio. They were a mixture of male and female green smurfs, Sergei can't help it but stare at the green smurfette with the red hair. He soon snapped out of it when a tall green smurf, whose height that easily matches Izotov and General Dragovich, stepped into the circle. He held his weapon down and smiled, "Sergei Makarov," he said, "We must make up for lost time my friend."

He held out his hand and Sergei took it, once he was back up onto his feet he wrapped his arms around the green smurf leader, "I thought you were dead Chernov, I saw you went down. I also saw General Dragovich try to execute your kids, I got the worse of the worse until today!"

Izotov sat up with a puzzled look on his face, "You mean to tell me that the Wunderwaffe had befriended a red smurf!"

"Since the Humanoid Wars," said Chernov as Sergei released his grip, "If it wasn't for me, he would be dead. Hadn't he told you?"

"No."

"Chernov," said Sergei, "This is Colonel Izotov, senior staff officer of the Red Smurf Army. And this is Sergeant Oleg Dragovich, Spetsnaz soldier officer."

"Our military careers are over Sergei," said Oleg, "It's done, over, gone."

"Because we capture you?" asked a green smurf.

"No, it's because my f*cking cousin betrayed us. General Adrian Dragovich leads the Red Smurf Army, he just executed his own soldiers and nearly tried to kill us. I can't believe this would happen, me and Sergei grew up with him as Izotov was our mentor."

"I saw what happened," said Chernov, "I hacked the security cameras to see what's inside, I know what went down. So I set off the alarm and sent my half-wits in to stir up some trouble. I'll tell you more when we get to the Green Smurf Colony, I'm sure that my half-sibs missed you Sergei."

"I had." said the red-headed green smurfette.

Sergei, without knowing it, blushed. _This is much worse than being killed, _he thought, _Being "admired" by green smurfs that were trying to kill me minutes earlier. Great, just great.  
><em>

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	42. Act III: Chapter XLII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XLII_

Chernov went on and on on how he found out about the red smurf's situation at their secret base, "I was doing some work at the Command Center and without warning, I received a report of a red smurf sighting. A spyplane of hours confirmed it, I soon ordered the Green Smurf Army to mobilize and I sent them to the mountain complex. When we got there, we were stumped to see the red smurfs fighting each other. Seeing what was going down, I had the place surrounded and try to contain it. Many red smurfs got away, but the battle was over within an hour."

Sergei listened to every word he said throughout the ride to the colony. It helped since riding the vertibird was making him sick. It wasn't like riding a Twinblade helicopter, instead of facing forward he was facing the side. It was also more cramped and hollow, it was simple as it looked. Izotov sat across from him as Oleg sat in the seat beside him, the rest of the seats were stuffed with red smurfs. Surprisingly they didn't mind his presence at all, he asked Chernov in Russian why they weren't so nervous.

"They're viewing you by your character Sergei, not by your faction."

That's when Chernov switched back to English, "So how did you learn how to speak English, you didn't understood what we're saying when we met you."

"Dragovich taught me, he knew what you had in store for me."

"Did he now, you weren't dubbed a traitor or anything?"

"Nope, I simply got a promotion: Diplomat."

"Might as well make you ambassador then."

"Yeah, I wish that would happen."

By the time they reached the colony, the vertibird stopped mid-air and suddenly went downward. It transformed from an airplane to a helicopter in an instant, Sergei felt his stomach churn, _Get me outta here. _

Once the door was open, everyone stepped out one by one. When Sergei touched the ground again, he realized he was deep within green smurf territory, at its very heart. He looked up, all he saw was the tree canopies. Being underneath trees was nothing new of course, it just brought back memories of his first visit. He felt like he was back in time, back when the Green Smurf Colony took off as a superpower. The Humanoid Wars, as bad as they were, forced the contact between the green and red smurfs. Now the green and red smurfs fight each other in this new war: The Primary War, as Chernov called it. The green smurfs fight these wars just to protect their blue smurf elders.

Clearly the colony felt different than before, it had changed. He remembered shanty spiderholes and dirt roads, the place only illuminated with crude electric lamps. Now the roads were paved with concrete, the spiderholes more professionally built, and new lamps that were brighter had been put up. The borders hadn't changed since the Humanoid Wars, but the interior had. It was beautiful as it was ingenious. Life can prosper here when compared to Fort Romanov, where it was hell beyond question.

_Might as well get settled in. _Sergei thought.

A green smurfette wearing an engineers outfit approached Chernov, "We've captured the red smurfs who we think belonged in Sergei's party."

"Good sis," said Chernov, "Bring them in, clean them up, and give them a bed to sleep in for the night."

"Yes bro."

The engineer ran off, but not before glancing at Sergei. He swore he saw her smile at him, she knew his name alright. Heck, maybe they all do. Maybe all green smurf knew his name, that might help when Chernov turn him loose. Loose, but not free, since he had nowhere else to go but here. He was still disturbed from the violence caused by Dragovich, his trust in him vanished after he try to kill him in the gas chamber. Whatever he was planning, he seemed to be aware of the green smurf's attack on the chemical complex. When Sergei add all the factors in, something doesn't add up. He couldn't put his finger on it.

"Follow me Sergei," said Chernov, "I'll help you get situated here."

"Thanks Chernov." said Sergei nonchalantly.

Chernov saw how depressed he was, "Are you alright?"

"I just need some rest," Sergei simply says, "What happened hours ago... is just hard to take in."

"You're going through Betrayal Trauma, I know it hurts Sergei I had experienced it before."

That peaked Sergei's curiosity, "You had?"

"When my father left me on my own, it was difficult to adjust. I was a different person then, hard to forgive people in those times. Those problems are now easily solved, the treatment for traitors who betray the Green Smurf Colony are no different from the red smurfs' system: They're lined up against a wall and shot by a firing squad. You know about the spy in my midst at all Sergei?"

"Dragovich did mentioned her."

"So you do know her. We discovered her betrayal and had her executed, maybe she's responsible for making the Smurf Village raid possible. I don't know how long she had been a defector, it's a major setback regardless. Best have that issue dead and buried, now you are the main focus in the colony."

"Me?"

"You're the only red smurf my brethren knew greatly, there's something about you that attracts the smurfettes though."

Sergei said no more, now he couldn't think straight. He and Chernov reached the Command Center as Colonel Izotov and Oleg followed behind, when they walked inside Sergei saw how high-tech it was, "So this is your base of operations?" asked Colonel Izotov.

"Suppose to be my official residence," said Chernov, "My 2nd in command lives here with Dashie, who happens to be the red smurf spy. God, this place was covered in trash on a daily basis. We tried our best to remove the beer smell, but its still there, still strong."

Almost right away, Sergei smelled the alcohol. It reminded him of the barracks the red smurf infantry lives in, "I thought you were situated in an imposing fortress-like building," said Colonel Izotov, "Not a spiderhole crammed with computers."

"We green smurfs are a master of stealth," said Chernov, "We do not reveal our physical features easily. Well, only when the season's right."

"What is that?" asked Oleg, he pointed to a suspicious bowl partially underneath the well-made bed.

"Crapping bowl," said Chernov, "It's either that, or go straight outside for the outhouse."

"No plumbing system?"

"We do have electric and gas lines, though there are few water and sewage lines. That only goes to the more vital buildings, the ones that _look _vital. The Command Center isn't one of them, even though it controls all the electricity, communication, and leadership. It's the heart and brain of the colony, yet it looked like another residence neglected from carelessness and laziness."

Chernov turned his attention back to Sergei, "Make yourself at home Sergei, get something to eat and freshen up. Just remember that the green smurfs, at certain times, are more terrible friends than enemies. I have to deal with that sh*t every time I'm here."

"Why's that?" asked Izotov.

The Supreme Commander of the Green Smurf Colony simply frowned at him, "The green smurfs are a young species, and they act like it."

After the two stared at each other for a moment, Izotov and Chernov laughed. Oleg just stood there puzzled as Sergei wondered out of the Command Center, not wanting to see anymore diplomacy in the works.

When he stepped out, he realized he needed to used the bathroom. Chernov said about the outhouses, where's one of them? After looking around he found a lonely outhouse down the street, he made his approach, trying not to draw attention to himself. When he reached the portable toilet, he noted that it was made out of fine wood. It was cedar, stained with a dark finish. A small note near the door handle said it was vacant, he grabbed the knob and opened the door. A strong air freshener was present, thankfully it didn't smell like sewage.

Sergei looked down through the wooden toilet seat and saw it was a pipe that removes the feces, not a container as he previously thought, it bent sharply to a 90 degree angle that head off to the sewage treatment plant where it was probably purified and properly disposed of. He stepped inside and shut and locked the wooden door behind him, he dropped his pants and undergarments and sat on the seat. There, he noticed a picture on the back of the outhouse door. It wasn't what he expected, _Porn, _he thought, _Who in the world would put porn in an outhouse?_

The green smurfette's pose wasn't that bad in the dirt texture background, she was in a position where she _revealed _everything. Sergei saw a small written note next to the picture, _"Flip picture for girl's porn. - Tesla Reznov"_

A part of Sergei wanted to laugh, yet he kept it held in. Be began to do his business, keeping his ears out for anyone approaching along the way. If there were green smurfs who are beckoned to kill him, this is the place to do it. The pipe was big enough to take way his disembodied remains... Sergei shivered at the thought. He tried to take his mind off of it by looking at the description tag of the outhouse posted next to the door. It said that the toilet was a "pit" toilet, evidenced by the box checked next to it. The other that wasn't checked said "squat" toilet, _That's interesting to know about the colony, _Sergei thought sarcastically, _What kind of restroom facilities they use._

By the time Sergei was done, he looked for something to wipe himself. Next to him was a newspaper, hanging on a nail. The newspaper had a hole already stamped into it, not stabbed into the nail with brute force. Sergei picked it up and looked through it, he found it a little difficult reading English. Back at Fort Romanov, he loved reading books unlike his peers. They were written by famous red smurf poets back before his time, he also read the Russian translation of Chernov's books, he had never picked up any information in English before. Until that moment.

Sergei was a bit disappointed, but the colored pictures help tell what the articles were about. Even though some pages were already torn by the previous users, there were still a few complete articles. They mainly have to do about the Green Smurf Colony's economy. He hanged the newspaper back on its hook and tore off a sheet, he ripped it in four squares and wiped his bum clean. He through the used paper down the pipe, _Now how do I flush this? _He thought.

He noticed a button at the side of the toilet, maybe that flushes the toilet. Sergei got up and slipped his pants and underwear back on, then pressed the button. The toilet began howling as it sucked his excrement down the drain, jets of high-pressured water wash what's left behind as it leaved a pleasant smell. The process took a few seconds before it was all over. With that done, Sergei stepped out and wiped his hands in the powder-white snow. He wiped his hands off on his pants, then took a moment to figure out what to do next. _Chernov said get something to eat,_ he thought, _Where is the canteen at?_

Having no idea where to go, he decided to head back to the Command Center and ask Chernov about. As he near, he noticed a green smurf walking into the building just across the street. A small unimpressive sign mounted above the front door simply said, "Command Bar." He could smell food inside, this was a restaurant rather than a canteen. So he approached the door and pushed it open. Inside, he saw the bar that circled the middle of the bar as tables and seats were positioned up against the wall. There weren't too many people here, and most of everyone was at the bar. With this small crowd, Sergei can handle it.

When he shuts the door behind him, the bartender looked up from wiping beer mugs, "Its about time a red smurf came here with peace in mind, I'm part of Chernov's personal squad. I was there when they captured you."

"Were you the one limping a little bit?" asked Sergei.

"You noticed that? Not to many smurfs have good eyes around here. I have a prosthetic leg, lost it during a red smurf skirmish. Never saw action again until the Primary War took off." He sat down the mug and rest his forearms on the bar counter, "Name's Jack, I own this establishment you see here. Pretty good bar, don't you think?"

"Much cleaner." murmured Sergei.

"Well," said Jack, "Can I get you anything?"

"The soldier's lunch please."

"Ah, the conventional rations awhile on the battlefield. You eat like a soldier, I give you that. Here's the thing, don't deny your stomach from nutrients. A demise from malnourishment is more common than war wounds around here."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Take a seat somewhere, I'll be right back."

As Jack walked to the kitchen to notify the chef of Sergei's order, the red smurf sat down in one of the tables and got settled in, _God I wish I had a book to read about now. _He thought.

Within a short period, Jack came back to the bar and resumed his duties. A green smurfette walked out of the back and handed Sergei a metal lunchbox, "This is it," she said, "The conventional."

"Thanks." said Sergei.

"Sure thing, sir."

The green smurfette head back to the kitchen and disappeared from sight, Sergei opened up the lunchbox and looked inside: A sandwich, a bag of hardtack, and a pouch of water. Not very inspiring, but it's a meal nonetheless. Sergei tried the sandwich, the meat tasted like rabbit. The bread was better than the red smurf standard, they got the ingredients just right. Next he tried the hardtack, it was no different from the red smurf receipt. He washed it all down with the water ration, which tasted like ordinary water. Within a few minutes he finished his meal. His lack of appetite made him feel full when he's about done.

_Now what am I suppose to do now-_

A gunshot crackled outside, it sounded close. Sergei jumped from his seat and nearly collapsed onto the floor, the green smurfs didn't seem to mind. Some just looked at him and laughed, the laughing stopped when more shots were fired. Things got serious fast, the green smurfs pulled out their handguns yet kept the safety on and the hammer forward. Sergei realized he didn't have a weapon on him, the green smurfs commandeered them before the trip to the colony. He got up and head outside where he looked around to see what's going on.

There, at the end of the road. He saw red smurfs whose hands were tied behind their back lined up in formation as green smurfs had their RS-100s drawn. Something clearly happened, a voice in Sergei's head told him not to go up there. He reconsidered when Chernov ran out of the Command Center with his own weapon out, Izotov nonchalantly followed behind, "Damn this world." he cursed.

A green smurf armed with a SIR rifle mod ran up to him in panic, "Lay it on me." said Chernov.

"We got a runner," said the green smurf, "He's slippery as a worm!"

"Figures," he then turned towards Sergei, "Come along Sergei, maybe you can defuse the situation."

"Those red smurfs will only listen to a high-ranking official," said Colonel Izotov, "Might as well have me do it."

"I think I can pull it off." said Sergei.

Izotov looked at him with doubt, "You sure that lad?"

"Positive."

"Well, good luck then. They fought by our side during the escape, they should still listen to you since you provide most of the assists."

As Izotov walked back into the Command Center, Sergei followed Chernov over to the conflagration. The bound red smurfs saw Sergei approach, some were angry, others didn't look like they cared, "Looks like you got off easy Sergei," one of them scoffed, "Lucky bastard."

"If you hadn't took off without us, you might as well avoided being taken as prisoner altogether."

"Complete bull, they might as well shoot you in your sleep."

"He could be right Yazov," said another red smurf, "He helped us got out and he understood the green smurfs the most."

"Well then," said Yazov, "How about you negotiate our comrade who made a run for it, get him to stand down. He's going to get killed obviously, but maybe you can provide some peace for him before he dies."

"Where is he then?" asked Sergei.

Yazov tilted his head to his side, "Over by that tree, taking shelter like a coward."

"Thank you Yazov."

"Whatever."

Sergei saw the nearby green smurfs firing away at the nearby tree as a red smurf laid crouched at its base, Chernov ordered the green smurf to cease-fire and they obeyed without question, "Let at him Sergei," said Chernov, "If you two start fighting, the green smurfs won't tell the difference. You'll might get shot by mistake, damn those idiots."

"Good to know Chernov," said Sergei, _I'm so going to die, aw crap!_

Sergei approached the runner, he was armed with an SIR shotgun mod. He was shaking heavily as he tried to reload the weapon, the runner had difficulty trying to do so, "Comrade," said Sergei, "Give it up, they have us surrounded."

The runner looked up and glared at him, "I know this is fruitless," he whispered, "But hey, it doesn't hurt having a dramatic final stand. I would die before I end up in their gulag."

"Depending on what's the definition of hurt, you don't seem to be doing well since they already shot you in the leg."

The runner looked down and saw a bullet hole in the side of his lower leg, blood had already stained his pants and the ground where he stood, "And I didn't feel it?" he asked. He turned his attention back to Sergei, "Oh f*ck this."

He started to turn the barrel around towards his mouth, but before Sergei can act someone behind him fired a shot. In a puff of smoke, the weapon was shot out of the runner's hands and he collapsed in the groan, groaning in pain. "Oh hell," he cursed, "That freaking hurt!"

Almost immediately, Sergei saw blood ooze around his torso and forearms. He just stood there as fellow green smurfs came to his aid, they picked up the weapon then carried the runner away as he continued to curse in Russian beyond reason and sanity. Sergei stared at the bloodstain he left behind, the runner had tried to commit suicide but was stopped by a green smurf sniper. His diplomacy test had failed, he realized he was on the wrong page from the runner. He was fighting to the death, not to escape the colony's captivity. With a leg wound like that, it should had occurred to him that the runner wasn't going anywhere fast.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, he turned and saw Chernov standing there, "I don't know who fired that shot since it wasn't necessary, the gun appeared to have jammed. Did you noticed how he crammed the shells into the weapon?"

"No." said Sergei.

"You did good for one day, you should get some rest Sergei."

"Yes Chernov."

**. . .**

Sometime around 20:00, Colonel Izotov sat in the Command Center with Oleg. They had spent all day in the building, surrounded by green smurf computers producing more heat than a stove. The running computers help kept the building warm in the dead of winter, Izotov had no clue about computers. He was a soldier, not a technician. Oleg examined some of the computers, he couldn't read English, so all attempts to read the incoming data on the CRT screens was futile. _Like it doesn't even matter. _thought Izotov. He knew that they weren't going back home, there's no telling if their careers had been destroyed or shifted in a new direction. All that hang on the balance of Chernov's decision.

The Wunderwaffe wasn't as he'd expected as the name had suggest. So far, Chernov's actions had been merciful. It was a real security risk leaving them alone in the Command Center, Izotov thinks they're being watched somehow. Yes, he could hear someone coming. He sat up straight and had Oleg sit back down in his chair just before the door opened, and Papa Smurf stepped on through.

"You believe me now?" asked Izotov as he sat there.

Papa Smurf didn't answer right away, "I do now."

"Dragovich had it all planned out," said Izotov, "He knew what was going to happen, as if he had lived through it before. Adrian wasn't like this in his childhood, I don't understand why he would do such a thing."

"We saw the clues," said Oleg, "We didn't recognized them until it was too late. Maybe we _almost _recognized them."

Papa Smurf pulled up a chair and sat in it, "Almost?"

Oleg glanced at the village leader, "A strange habit here, a weird behavior there. He used me, my _own _cousin, to set his plans in motion and start this war. Then he stabbed us in the back with a gas chamber in the end, I guess you'll be having a portion of the red smurf army working for you now."

Izotov leaned forward and lowered his voice, "He did something to one of your smurfs, the one with glasses you call Brainy."

"Yes," said Papa Smurf, "He told me what smurfed him, I'm still a bit disturbed about it."

"I have to warn you that Brainy has gone under a psychological experiment, right now he may be hearing numbers in his head. Prime numbers to be exact. The numbers is actually codes carrying secret messages."

"What messages?"

"A message to perform a certain task, his will is keeping that in check at the moment. Only for the moment."

"You mean to tell me that Dragovich had turned my smurfs into a walking bomb?"

"No, not a bomb. A Manchurian candidate, a term that means a mind-controlled assassin and spy. The only problem is, I don't know how Dragovich does it since computers aren't my thing."

"We don't have technicians," said Oleg, "Only mechanics. We never had the capability of performing research in areas to increase are capability on our missions. A lot of our technology came from captured equipment from the green smurfs, and they're hard to get."

"Now we only have mechanics Oleg," said Izotov, "You worked putting together an S-34 tank, had you?"

"Yeah, that was 20 years ago. I was educated in that field, not very many mechanics in that time though so it was quite difficult. I didn't hesitate to accept the job offer Dragovich gave me when he came to power."

"Only Dragovich knew how to use computers, I had no idea where he gotten a hold of such knowledge. You figured out how to use computers Papa Smurf?"

"No, never tried to use one."

The door flew open and Chernov walked into the Command Center, startling Izotov, "The reason I hadn't taught him is because he and his smurfs resist change," he said as he closed the door and pulled up a chair, "I would give him a computer with direct access to the colony but never got around to it, since I don't have the time to teach him about how to use a keyboard and the simple commands. I taught Brainy how to use the typewriter though, helped him with his books in all. Those were better days."

"Were you eavesdropping?" asked Papa Smurf.

"No, I was just coming back from giving Sergei a tour of the place and I overheard a part of your conversation." he then turned his attention to Izotov, "Colonel Izotov, you had no idea how much hell I had been through after leading that attack on Fort Romanov."

"I heard you were KIA." said Izotov.

"No, fellow humans sheltered me and I made a quick recovery. Just in time to get my ass shot at by red smurfs, I think they were under the command of one of your peers."

"Who would that be?"

"Colonel Adrey Antosha."

"Yes, we lost contact with him after the attack. What has become of him?"

"Dead, me and a band of MIA green smurfs gunned him down and his small band of forces just to rescue some friends."

"He burned the bodies afterwords." said Papa Smurf.

"Hm, I figured he'll turn up dead." said Izotov.

"I also took out Dragovich's spy as well, she used to sleep on a mat in the Command Center. We took it out and replace it with the cot back there after she's dead, her remains were burned as well."

"Was it too obvious it was Dashie?"

"Oh, you know her as well. Yes, it was too obvious. Rick told me what happened after he came back home, found it empty but discovered some documents underneath the sleeping mat. He's over with one of my advisers to recover at the moment, which is why he's not here as he normally would."

"Now about what happened at the Smurf Village," said Izotov, "I was the one who supervised the whole thing."

"I was the one who executed the mission," said Oleg, "Heck, I was the one who kidnapped Papa Smurf myself."

"Not what I want to hear." muttered Papa Smurf.

"You know that he talks in his sleep?" asked Chernov.

"On the way to Fort Romanov, he said something about Smurfette."

"Yeah, that relationship didn't work out."

Chernov, Oleg, and Izotov laughed. As Papa Smurf shut his eyes hard in disbelief, "I guess you found some common ground."

"Me and Rachael tried to defend the Smurf Village ourselves, just us since someone cut the comms cable between the village and colony."

"Whoops." muttered Oleg.

"How many red smurfs that went down, 67? I even took down a twinblade before someone shot a rocket at me, the battle was over after that."

He held up his hand, "I lost part of my index finger from that battle, what I found interesting is that it's growing back."

"How?" asked Izotov.

"I have the ability to regenerate lost tissue and limbs, some green smurfs have this ability as well, but only some."

"Wow," said Izotov, "Isn't that interesting."

"I need to ask you something," Chernov got up and pulled a folder out between two computers and sat it in the middle of the table, then opened it, "This picture, you know where it was taken?"

"I know," said Oleg, "Dragovich told me it was taken at a mountain, not the chemical base you saved us in but at a much more isolated mountain. Bigger as well."

"Maybe that's where we'll find him," said Chernov, "If Dragovich is at this mountain, there's a good chance there's a red smurf base there as well. What this statue represents, however, tells me something doesn't seem right."

"Where did you find this by the way?" asked Izotov.

"On his desk when I was in the Fort's HQ, Rick must be smart enough to take a hold of it after I was incapacitated."

"We should prepare for an offensive strike then," said Izotov, "I know pretty much everything about red smurf strategy, I should be able to help you get through Dragovich's forces."

"We're dealing with his elite Izotov." said Oleg.

"Then you should help us how to get through his Spetsnaz forces, you led it after all."

"Yeah, until this morning."

"I'll see if I can find some maps at our archives," said Chernov, "Tomorrow, I'll send in some spy planes all over the countryside over a 500 kilometer range around this base. I'll put together a team to analyze some of the data we collected, once we come up with a suspected location we'll do some recon in the area to confirm if that's where his base is. Who knows, this may be the last major red smurf installation left standing in the region."

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	43. Act III: Chapter XLIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XLIII_

Abby shifted onto the other leg as she sampled a littlebit of the smurf corn they'd grew, she tasted it for flavor and quality. She concluded that the corn was around the outstanding level, not the perfect level she was hoping for, "With a little bit more work," she told the hydroponic farmer, "We may have a perfect vegetable within two or three more generations of this plant."

"A little bit more fertilizer and light?" he asked.

"Yeah, give it a little more time too. We're closing in on the perfection of the vegetable, soon we would have fully domestic crops when spring comes around."

She left the farmer as he tends to his farm: Specialized pallets just 8cm long bolted to a tree from the bottom to top with standing space to spare. There were many vertical farms in the area, every tree in GSV 4 had one. All the farms were sealed with a plastic film, crudely creating a controlled environment. Specialized LEDs help keep the plant illuminated during night, so the farms technically get their energy half their energy from the sun during the day and the LEDs at night. The spiderholes here don't have green smurfs living in them, well most of them. Some were growing food as well by the same process as the vertical farms. Thin limestone slabs help provide the Co2 for the plants to breathe as more advanced lighting give them energy. They're dubbed, "bio-domes" due to the unique shape of the spiderhole roofs.

Secretary of Agriculture Abigael Reznov had been in the business on managing the food supply since the conclusion of the Humanoid Wars. She was a natural gardener and cook, an excellent combination. Part of the time she supervises the farmers, the other providing fresh food for the colony. The best part of the job was that she get to sample a portion of the food before they're shipped out. It resulted in her gaining weight. When she realized he was growing around the waist, she managed the weight gain by hitting the gym. It didn't stop her from going from a 1 smurf size to 4 smurf size in 4 months, but she gained a good portion of her weight in muscle. She hold the record for being the strongest green smurf in existence, not even Chernov can match her strength. He claimed that Newton's law explains why he can't overpower her.

And he's right, since she found it hard to walk with all that weight on her. Show she used a cane made out of solid steel with a rubber grip to move around, where she lack speed she made up for strength and carrying capacity. With a high stamina, she's able to move without loosing her breath. To her, it's all about control, not speed.

Abby made her way back to her office: a simple one room building coated with camouflage paint. She opened the door and walked inside, her office had wooden walls and floors stained for beauty. The desk was also made out of wood, probably from a solid oak tree. She sat in her chair, made out of reinforced steel with heavy duty cushions and cork, and got busy doing paperwork. Since it was morning, she had all the time in the world. The afternoon is where she's needed the most, so the mornings is where she had time to fill out paperwork and write reports. She had to get up by 5:00 to get most of it done, now she's filling out the remainder of the work. Like all green smurf's, Abby's job is her life. You do your job and you live your life. Green smurfs work 85 hours a week, their careers are more important to them than one would realize.

By the time Abby finished her last report, she pushed her typewriter aside and stared out the window. It was a beautiful morning despite these times. She thought about her children, 3 on which was from her first mate and another 3 from her 2nd mate. The first one was killed in action awhile fighting a skirmish against the red smurfs, her second mate died after his hand was traumatically amputated from some machinery at the factories. He later died from exsanguination. She loved all her fellow green smurfs, but decided that she had enough mates. She took care of her kids despite her difficulties, she loved them and they loved her. Life was usual ever since.

Something abruptly caught Abby's eye, she got out of her chair and hobbled over to the window to get a better view. It was a red smurf, here on good intentions? The look in his eyes showed curiosity, not rage as she was used to see. She watched him wondering around, strutting nonchalantly as he examined all the vertical farms in the area. Fellow green smurfs simply ignored him, too busy in their work to take notice. Abby grabbed her cane and head outside to greet him, but he was too far away by then. Since he's probably not used to seeing someone her size coming towards him, it's wise to just let him go.

"A bit slow this morning?" said a voice.

Abby turned and saw one of her aides behind her, holding a clipboard in her hands, "Yeah," Abby said as she turned her attention back towards the fading sight of the red smurf, "Is that one of the red smurf diplomats?"

"Yup," said her aide, "Sergei Makarov, he was a Major in the Red Smurf Army. The story goes that yesterday, he and several others were betrayed by their superior officers and were condemned to death. Chernov is ever so merciful and generous, he thinks he may be the key to peace once the war is over."

"About time, no more paperwork to fill out for military rations. You know where he's staying?"

"GSV 1, Chernov is planning to build an embassy for the red smurfs once the war is over. For now, a simple spiderhole will do. Since there's nothing to show that a red smurf is living there, good luck finding it."

"I got all the time in the world. Tell you what, I'll take the day off and investigate this Sergei. If he's here for peace, then I should negotiate a deal with him about getting his fellow comrades fed after the Primary War."

"Okay Abby, you need a ride."

"No, I'll walk. I'm not wasting all that time trying to get into a cab."

Due to Abby's large frame, she had to get around in a transport truck rather than a smurfvee. Like all green smurfs, she's impatient, and constant motion helps with patience. Every time that Abby has an upcoming meeting, she would leave vastly early just to get there on food, even when the meeting takes place at the other side of the colony. For the much longer distances, her aides stand by and watch as Abby make the trip on foot. At times she makes it, other times she would make it halfway there and will through a fit. That's where her assistants call up the transport truck to pick her up, she gets in them without saying a word.

"Don't follow me this time," said Abby, "I'll make do myself for one day, even if it kills me."

"Okay sis," said her aide, "Your call."

Abby adjusted her overalls and flexed her muscles, then head off to GSV 1 on foot without complaining whatsoever.

**. . .**

Later that night, Sergei struggled to maintain balance. For once, he had a few too many. He pretty much explored every crook and cranny of the Green Smurf Colony before taking a rest in one of its bars. It was on the house, he had a drinking contest with a green smurf – whom he had chosen wisely to challenge. He had read books of alcoholism, every textbook he find says that intoxication would have to do with an individual's mass. The smaller the green smurf, the better his chances. He challenged the most skinniest and lean green smurf there, sure enough Sergei one that round. When the green smurfs got wise on his tactics after a 2nd and 3rd challenge, they hailed him a winner. That's where things got interesting.

Sergei, whose judgment had been impaired by the alcohol, ran his mouth on how great he was. Some of his sentences were flat out Russian, others were a mix of English and Russian. Realizing that red smurfs dominate in drinking contests, the green smurfs decided to perform a classic tradition on Sergei, by fighting him. But instead of guns and war machines, it's going to be bare handed.

It didn't take much convincing to get him going, "Bring it on." he mumbled in Russian. The green smurfs, urged on by his emotion and aggressive gestures, commence fighting. Sergei's training and intelligence kicked in, strategically hitting his frienemys' pressure points and knocking them out of action within a few blows. In skirmishes and wars, green smurfs often dominate the red smurfs with guns and knives. But the tables are turned with both sides fight with fists. Chernov knew the red smurfs would win some battles if it involves close quarters combat, many studies and confirmation from Colonel Izotov supported his theory as fact. Red smurfs are mainly single-minded, Sergei however is an exception.

After taking a few blows, Sergei realized he's not going to win this fight, just like his comrades who lost their lives in battles against the green smurf race. Thinking fast as the alcohol would allow, he pushed an incoming drunken green smurf into a table where a couple of his siblings were minding their own business. The toppled green smurf spilled his comrade's beer, that was enough to turn the green smurf's against each other. He left when the frenzy was just a trickle, he was sure it was now an all out brawl, _They're lucky that I'm on their side now. _Sergei thought with a smile.

Indeed they were, thanks to Chernov, who saw him as an irreplaceable asset. Sergei's personality, it seems, to be the white flag necessary for peace terms in the reconstruction after the Primary War. Fort Romanov is devastated, the Smurf Village no different. What about the neutral nations and tribes who were affected? There's hell to pay, the thought that Chernov would protect him through it all is enough to stick with the plan. Seeing how dependent he was to him, scared him more than the betrayal of his own kind. He buried the thought in his mind and refocus on getting into a bed.

A spiderhole, not far from the Command Center, was his place of temporary residence. Nothing said that he stayed there, not surprisingly it was green smurf policy. Deception is the foundation of many green smurf strategies, whom they arguably inherited from their blue buddies. He may not blend in here, but the roof over his head will surely take care of him when he's most vulnerable.

Sergei almost stumbled when he approached his door. When he opened it, a thick green smurf hand grabbed him and pulled him in. The door slammed shut, everything went black immediately. He tried to scream, to call for help. But it was no use, whoever had a grip on him was strong. He never felt such strength since getting an S-34 tank out of the ditch about 3 months ago, but this was nothing compared to a mechanical beast. When Sergei tried to fight back his captor, he realized that whoever it was wasn't intending harm. The grip was just too gentle by his standards, it was just enough to get his attention.

"I'm not going to strangle you Sergei," said a female voice as the grip loosen, "Easy now."

A nearby electric lantern just as Sergei broke free, before him was the most massive green smurf he had ever seen in his life, "Who are you?" he stammered, still stricken with paranoia and fear.

"Abigael Reznov," said his _captor_, "Chernov's Secretary of Agriculture."

Sergei relaxed a bit and exhaled, "Holy crap, just why the setting here by the way!"

Abby sat down on his steel-framed bed, it surprisingly didn't buckled once she placed all her weight on it, "What would you do if you see someone larger than you approach you? I don't mean taller, I mean _larger_."

It took a moment for Sergei to understand, "Ohhhh, that's why. Well, what do you want?"

"I'm in charge of the food around here, you can obviously tell. Every time there's a war, I have to work extra hours just to make sure the green smurf army gets the rations they need to function away from home. A lot of paperwork, a lot of testing. I like the work, but a major war like this however is just a bit too much. Since you're going to be the red smurf ambassador around these parts, you might be able to help me out when you get to the peace table."

"Colonel Izotov is going to do most of the talking, so you may need to give him your suggestions. But still, I'll might help. What do you need me to do?"

"Your comrades are in rough times are they? No place to call home, betrayed by their own general?"

"_Da, _rough times."

"They probably don't have much food on them."

"The food we have is horrible."

"The quality of green smurf food is great, thanks to yours truly. I'll be able to share the Green Smurf Colony's food storage to your comrades who are going hungry, once the war is over. What do you think?"

"After sampling the worst food your home has to offer, I think they would love it."

"Let me guess, you sampled the war rations?"

"Yup."

"Oh good, but that's not all they're getting you know. Premium fruits and vegetables, served from our finest chefs. Smelling our dishes would make your mouth water, green smurf hospitality for all who asks it."

"Sounds too good to be true, but I've witness evidence to back up your claim. What do you want in return?"

"Since the outcome of the war will vary, it would be settled personally between you and me. You'll pretty much figure it out within 3 seconds."

That's when Abby started slipping off her overalls, Sergei knew where this was heading. His first instinct is too turn around, rush through the door, and into the night. Before he could do that, the lantern somehow turned off and everything went pitched black. He heard what sounded like a blanket drop to the floor and a hand grabbed his arm, he found himself thrown onto the bed and Abby was on him within a second, "Oh hell," said Sergei, "Why this?"

"I hadn't hadn't gotten laid in 8 months," said Abby, "And by god it was horrible!"

"Did you try masturbating?"

"It's not the same!"

All of Abby's weight and flesh from her core told him that there's no other way out of it. He never had any sexual experience before in his life, not even the thought of it. He still isn't thinking about it when the opportunity is presented before him, the _way _it was presented felt insane to him. His knowledge of reading some medicine books about the subject might come in handy right now, "Okay, you got a deal. Just get off of me so I can get into position."

"Oh thank you Sergei, I knew you would." He was sure that there was a smile on his face in the darkness, thankfully he didn't have to watch the whole thing as he set it in motion.

**. . .**

When Sergei woke up, he found himself trapped in a very tight space. He panicked as he try to climb his way out, first his head came free, then the rest of his body followed. He flopped to the floor in exhaustion, the hangover he was having wasn't helping the situation. It was hot and stuffy in the spiderhole, he got up to his feet and opened the door a crack. Cold air from outside rushed in, followed by comforting sunlight. His eyes burned from the ambient light, morning came a moment too soon.

Relieved, he turned around and was surprised to find an unexpected surprise. Abby laid on his bed with arms and legs spread out, her overalls lay on the floor, along with most of Sergei's clothes. Seeing her made Sergei remembered what happened last night, he didn't forgotten her deal. What he really climbed out of was underneath Abby's hanging belly, which was draped over her groin. He didn't wanna remember what he was doing under there, nor did he wanna be here when Abby wakes up. Sergei grabbed his uniform off the floor and quickly got dressed before heading outside.

He looked up, expecting to see the blue sky and the familiar sun. No, he saw instead was the canopy of the forest. This was truly a Green Smurf Colony, everything was just green from top to bottom. Sergei climbed the small ramp from the spiderhole and got onto the paved street. After popping a few joints, he head straight for the Command Center. When he arrived, he saw Rick at his radio set explaining the daily news. Just when he wrapped it up, he pushed his microphone aside. He was just about to get up when he saw Sergei standing by the door, he nearly jumped out of his seat and onto the floor, "God o` mighty," he cried, "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I just arrived." said Sergei.

"Oh, well are you looking for Chernov?"

"Yes, where is he?"

"He should be over here within a few moments, why not just go get yourself some breakfast and wait for him?"

"Okay Rick."

"It's hard to believe that when I met you, you couldn't even speak English. Was it difficult learning it, since the language is by far the most smoothest in the world."

"Reading it is a lot better than speaking it."

"Oh, you're book smart. At least we have an outsider who's literate for once. The woodnymphs who trade with us can't read one bit, and that frustrated us heavily."

"Why?"

"Exchanging information is, by far, a currency in the barter economy. We often give them some books for their troubles, a lot of problems arouse since they can't even read. How the hell can a civilization even advanced if they can't read and write their own language?"

"They just don't advance whatsoever, just stuck in the dark like cavemen."

"Exactly, speaking of woodnymphs we just got word that Dragovich's Spetsnaz army had ransacked several of their villages nearby. Our neighbors would love our help, but we hadn't gotten any word from them ever since we took Fort Romanov. A few recon drones over Pussywillow Hollow showed huge firestorms brewing, that's not far from the Smurf Village which is now red smurf territory, so I suspect that the red smurfs are over there causing mayhem right now. I don't have any evidence that the red smurfs were involved in the wildfires over there, so I'm sending in more recon drones to check things out. As for the red smurfs in the Smurf Village..."

Rick's voice trailed off, then he gave Sergei a look, "Colonel Antosha runs that section of the Red Smurf Army, he is cut off from the main force and so there's a good chance they hadn't gotten word from General Dragovich at all. Recon drones over the area shows a few Spetsnaz forces, chances are they may not be hostile to you since there's still conventional conscripts present."

"You're saying I should go over there and negotiate them to come onto our side?" asked Sergei.

"You catch on do you? You, Izotov, and Oleg would lead the negotiations as fellow green smurfs stand by to watch. Once you're over there with a white flag over your heads, you go and speak with the highest ranking officer there. Tell them what happened, as you tell them show them this."

Rick handed Sergei a manilla folder, he opened it up and pulled out some high definition photographs. They were taken from the security cameras at the chemical complex, they show Spetsnaz soldiers under the command of General Dragovich killing his conventional troops. One photo shows the red smurfs killed in the gas chambers...

"I'm sure these photos would convince them," said Sergei as he puts them back into the folder, "When should I be leaving?"

"Soon, preferably before sunset. With Antosha's forces on our side, we may have a fighting chance against Dragovich."

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Good to hear, now get something to eat and come back here. Your diplomatic team will be assembled shortly."

**. . .**

Brainy shut himself inside a spiderhole as the numbers in his head continue to play and replay, the sequences sounded random, but they weren't. Every time he hears a code play out, he could almost hear a voice giving him commands. He sat in the corner of the darkened spiderhole with a blanket over his head, Brainy rocked back and forth on his bottom as his sanity bleeds away, _The numbers, _he thought, _What do they mean?_

_[static] 2, 7, 11, 13, 23, 19, 3, 71, 89, 5 [static] _

_No, no it can't be!_

**. . .**

Sergei sat tight in the smurfvee with Izotov and Oleg, they were leading the way in the 3 car convoy to the Smurf Village. Each vehicle was flying a white flag to show a truce had been called, Sergei hope that the red smurfs won't disregard the rules of engagement for this. Oh hell, there's no rules of engagement sort of speak. A white flag is used either to call out surrender or a cease-fire, right now this is a cease-fire. Hopefully that would remain the case once they get to the village.

"You think this is going to work Comrade Colonel?" asked Sergei.

"I don't know," said Colonel Izotov, "If this goes well, I may end up taking control of Antosha's forces. All of them sort of speak."

"We're approaching the village," said the green smurf driver, "Can you guys do me a favor?"

"What is it?" asked Oleg

"If I get shot and killed, bring my corpse back to the colony. That way what's left of me don't get wasted."

"Um, sure. We'll do that."

"Thanks."

The driver slowed the smurfvee as they entered the village, Sergei saw several red smurf soldiers with puzzled faces just staring out at him and his friends. A truce was only called at least once, and that was during peacetime. This was the first time a truce had ever been called by the green smurfs, so it was no surprise that Colonel Antosha's small army was cautious. Some of his soldier's appear to have an itchy trigger finger, Sergei noted the safety of many of their weapons were turned off. Once the driver parked the smurfvee, everyone stepped out and approach the growing red smurf crowd.

"Who's in charge here?" asked Colonel Izotov.

"Colonel Antosha sir," said one of the red smurfs, "He's not here at the moment, in fact he's been gone for days now."

"I'm Colonel Izotov, where's the highest ranking officer here?"

"Look no further," the red smurf saluted, "Sergeant Major Ivan Romanov, at your service."

"Colonel Antosha had been KIA for 3 days now," said Izotov, "I'm assuming command on all of his forces."

"I see," said Ivan, "And your escort happens to be green smurfs, is there a reason why?"

"I'll make a long story short with these," Sergei got out the folder and handed it to Ivan, "See these."

Ivan opened up the folder and examined the photos, the expression on his face changed, "I don't believe this."

"Dragovich has turned on us," said Colonel Izotov, "He's going to destroy the entire region if we don't stop him."

Ivan stuck the photos back into the envelope and sighed, "After all these years of serving him, this is what we get in return? True or not, Antosha had enough with him and we all know you had enough as well."

"_Da_," said Colonel Izotov, "Let down your arms and head over to the Green Smurf Colony, the green smurfs are giving us a chance of peace."

"Joining forces with the green smurfs against our own general? Since he started this... why not?"

Ivan and Izotov shook each other's hands, "You got yourself a deal Izotov."

Without warning gunfire erupted nearby, all of the green and red smurfs went on high alert, "The hell is that?" asked Ivan.

"Our cover has been blown," cried a Spetsnaz soldier, "Shoot them all!"

Everyone ran back behind the vehicles as bullets whizzed by their ears, once behind cover Ivan pulled out his service revolver, "Now I believe you 100%!" said Ivan.

"They must had orders from Dragovich before hand," said Izotov, "How many are there?"

"At least 15, 3 squads of them at least. The sound of the gunfire appeared to be taking place near the village center, chances are they're held up in one of the mushroom buildings."

"Sergei, grab a gun and lead an assault force out there! Wipe them all out!"

A green smurf tossed his rifle to Sergei, "Here, take this!" Standard Infantry Rifle w/ the rifle barrel, here's a few incendiary clips to help you punch your way through their defenses."

"Thanks." said Sergei as he loaded the rifle.

"This is the most accurate rifle ever made by either smurf, you'll be able to hit your target at least 7 meters away. Good luck Major Makarov!"

Sergei got up and rushed towards the sound of the fire fight, he found several conventional soldiers along the way and rounded them up. He lead them all towards the sound of the fighting and took shelter in one of the mushroom houses. Sergei managed to get a visual on the Spetsnaz soldiers, they're being held up in a mushroom house fortified with sheets of metal, wooden boards, and dismantled furniture. They also managed to get a hold of some barbed wire curls and lined them up around the building, Sergei suspected this is where Antosha was suppose to stay since its the only building that was well fortified.

"You, over to the window!" ordered Sergei to one of the red smurfs.

The red smurf got into position near the window and awaited further orders. Sergei kicked a wooden table to its side and pushed it against the open door, "Does anyone have stick grenades!" he asked.

"Here!" a red smurf tossed him a stick grenade.

"Thanks!"

Sergei peeked out through the corner of the window to see where he could through the grenade, the windows of the Spetsnaz fortification had been boarded, each window had a 2mm light machine gun sticking out of it. The door to the building was close, Sergei noticed it can only open inward, that gave him an idea. He pulled the pin to the stick grenade and threw it at the door. The grenade landed right against it. Next he pulled out his SIR and fired an incendiary round at the handle. The special round blew a hole through the door and sat it on fire, a second later the grenade detonated and the door was blown wide open. Acting quickly, Sergei shot off the hinges and the door flopped to the floor. A Spetsnaz soldier popped into view in an effort to retrieve it, Sergei blew his head clean off and the soldier dropped to the floor.

"Target down!" he announced.

He could faintly see the faces of Spetsnaz conscripts inside the building, somewhere taking shelter in the back. Sergei fired a few shots into the dark interior of the garrison, he can see several Spetsnaz caught fire, indicating he shot them, "Anyone have a molotov cocktail?" asked Sergei.

"No," said one of the red smurfs, "We have no incendiary explosives at this time."

"Damn, then we should do it-"

Something caught his eye, Sergei can see what looked like a molotov cocktail sitting on a dresser inside the Spetsnaz's shelter. He aimed his SIR at it and fired, the bottle exploded in a fireball, setting ablaze to anything around it. The Spetsnaz soldiers began to panic and started to run out through the door, "Shoot them as they come out!"

One by one, several Spetsnaz soldiers went down as Sergei and his band of regulars take pot-shots at them as they try to escape the building. As the fire build strength, smoke started pouring out through the boarded windows and what used to be the front door. Within a few moments, the last of the Spetsnaz soldiers came out coughing loudly and dropping to the ground without taking any damage. A few seconds later, the house was engulfed in flames.

"They weren't even shooting at us," said a red smurf, "What were they doing in there?"

"They were either waiting for us to come in there or were focused at fighting other conventional conscripts," said Sergei, "Regardless, we got a good portion of them. Let's scout the rest of the Smurf Village for any more Spetsnaz before we head to the Green Smurf Colony."

**. . .**

Brainy heard the number's grow louder, he buried his head in a pillow in a desperate effort to muffle the noise. He laid on the floor groaning, his ears felt like they were going to bleed. Everything began to hurt, as bad as it was Brainy knew this was just the start. The numbers alternate from prime to composite, now they were beginning to blur together. A sequence was all prime, except one. Hearing that sequence made Brainy flip the bed against the wall.

_[static] 4, 18, 21, 9, 3, 42, 6, 33, 0 [static]_

His eyes went big, but it felt like he was falling asleep.

**. . .**

The remaining Spetsnaz forces were either captured or killed off by both sides. The red smurfs agreed to disarm, they threw all their weapons into the back of a transport truck once they were all unloaded with the chamber open. They were all taken back to the Green Smurf Colony where they're searched and evaluated, those who didn't cooperate were thrown into the POW camps without question. Chernov knew that many green smurfs have a sensitive temper and are complete assholes, those who fit the profile to a degree would get fewer privileges than those who kept their cool.

For Chernov, recruiting a few regiments of red smurfs was a problem. Not that they were once the enemy, but the language they spoke. Even though he can communicate to them, doesn't mean a truce can be guaranteed. Red smurfs are more stubborn than one could realize, not even their own. With Colonel Izotov's help, leadership wouldn't be a problem. So the chance of any red smurfs getting up all of a sudden and start a massacre was greatly reduced.

Now he along with Papa Smurf, Grandpa Smurf, Izotov, and this Romanov fellow that the diplomatic team had picked up, had gathered around the round table in the Command Center. Oleg and Sergei sat in chairs up against the walls, since there was no more room at the table. Rick sat at his radio, tending to any incoming transmission that may be important. Hefty and Handy stood next to the door on the inside as Chad and Judd guarded the outside, many eyes watch over this place, making sure no one would just walk in and crash the party.

"I have to ask," said Romanov, "Why is this place smell like cheap beer?"

"Long story," said Chernov, "We managed to clean this place up, but the smell remains. Let's leave it at that."

Rick gave Chernov a nod before returning his gaze to the radio, guess discretion had paid off, "Dragovich is hiding somewhere," Chernov began, "We may know where he is."

"And where's that?" asked Romanov.

"Here," Chernov pulled out the map of the entire region of the area and laid it on the table, then marked the possible location with a pencil, "This mountain here is by far the largest in the area, stands by around 2,500 meters tall and 3 kilometers across. May not be that big by human standards, but it's Mt. Everest for a smurf. The terrain here is hostile to human life due to all the rocks and lack of suitable soil to grow food. It's a good place for a tiny humanoid to take shelter, both physically and psychologically."

"Why psychologically?" asked Oleg.

"Very few humans had ever conquered this mountain, but not one had reached the summit. The peak is so steep that climbing it with just feet would be like jumping off the mountain, I'd done some research and found that creatures no taller than 120cm made it to its summit. They were dwarfs mining the mountain for its special minerals, small group of them decided to climb the summit and so they did it without any problems. They named the mountain Kleiner Fub, which means "small foot" in German."

"Mt. Kleiner Fub," asked Romanov, "That's near the border to Germany, how far is it?"

"At least 25 kilometers," said Chernov, "Far away from the nearest human city and settlement, to make it more convenient the Smurf River's source just happened to be that mountain."

"If Dragovich made his base there," said Papa Smurf, "Would he poison the water supply that sustains our civilization?"

"Chances are he wouldn't known about it," said Colonel Izotov, "He's too deep into his own problems to do a background check in this area, he hardly coordinated massive mobilizations anymore. The only time he ever did so was evacuating Fort Romanov."

"He named it after me," said Ivan, "I saved his life when we were kids, a bear nearly done him in after he shot one of her cubs. The last time we ever spoke was him telling me about naming the fort after me during it's construction, that was a long time ago now."

"You sure he's there?" asked Grandpa Smurf.

"That photo marks the entrance," said Oleg, "We'll know once we see that statue."

"Chances are that Dragovich will be there are high," said Izotov, "The mountain base would be the only major red smurf installation in the area, unless he had more out there. If he's there, I can tell you that there's no way he's going to escape once we hit the place hard. The thin air would make it difficult for twinblades to move around, let alone function."

"Good chance he placed his airport somewhere else," said Chernov, "Or else his base would be more obvious."

"Can you call in some recon flybys over the area?" asked Sergei.

"Yeah," Chernov turned towards Rick, "Make the call."

"Roger." said Rick, he turned on his mike and ordered reconnicance over Mt. Kleiner Fub then gave it's coordinates.

"How much troops can we spare?" asked Izotov.

"With a combined force of green and red smurfs," said Chernov, "We may be able to break through the Spetsnaz defenses. We'll use the mechanized units for a diversion, then get a small team to break into the base to take Dragovich out in person."

"What about his base?" asked Oleg.

"We'll blow it up like the others, even if this photo suggest that this base may have green smurf significance, it has no value to us. We don't have the numbers to occupy the base, best to leave it to rot if the cold allows it."

"Once Dragovich is taken out of commission," said Papa Smurf, "Who's going to smurf his place?"

"I would take full control of the Red Smurf Army," said Colonel Izotov, "But I'm too old to do much, I might run it for awhile then turn over control to a more younger red smurf who's worthy of such responsibility. Might as well retire with the rank of general than colonel," Izotov let out a smile, "That's one way to put a close to a soldier's life, isn't it?"

"I most definitely agree," said Chernov, "There's a hill around here that you can set up your retirement home, it's an abandoned green smurf outpost we don't bother using anymore. The last time I been there, it was still in good condition. It has electricity, but no running water. That problem can be easily fixed, along with anything that's made out of wood."

"Sounds good."

"What about the red smurfs in question," said Papa Smurf, "What will become of them?"

"We'll save that for the treaty Papa Smurf," said Chernov, "Right now, we take out Dragovich and worry about his remaining forces later."

Chernov heard the door creak open, he looked up and saw Brainy coming in. Before he could say hello, he saw the smurf pull out a gun behind Izotov. Hefty and Handy looked at each other for a brief moment before lunging after Brainy, he fired the gun, the sound made everybody jump back as Izotov drop to the ground. Hefty knock the gun out of Brainy's hands and it tossed to the far end of the room, amazingly Brainy somehow overpowered both of his fellow smurfs and knocked them on their rumps with sharp kicks and punches in their pressure points.

As Brainy went for the gun, Rick shot up to stop him. The blue smurf managed to grab the gun and whack Rick on the head with the butt of the weapon, the reappointed Lieutenant Commander was knocked out of commission and collapsed to the floor. Brainy turned the gun on Chernov, before he could get a proper aim Chernov grabbed his wrist and gave it a sharp twist. The gun drop to the ground as Brainy screamed, but he wasn't giving up just yet. Having enough of this, Chernov hammered Briany on his shoulder, punched him in the liver, then kick him in the center of his torso. The force made Brainy slam against the wall and collapsed to the floor, as he went down his white smurf hat fell off. What it revealed was a large scar that nearly arched across the top of his head.

"Great smurfs." said Papa Smurf as he rushed to the aid of his little smurfs.

"Izotov," cried Sergei as he went to his mentor's aid, "Where you hit?"

"He shot me in the back rib," said Izotov, "I'll be fine, what about Rick?"

Chernov checked Rick for a pulse, "He's still alive, Brainy knocked him out cold."

Chad and Judd were slow to react, they quickly walked into the Command Center and saw the mess before them, "Oh hell," said Chad, "Not again!"

"Dragovich," said Izotov as he managed to sit back into his chair, "Dragovich had Brainy under his spell the whole time, he must had gave him the command for an assassination."

"I should had heed your warning." said Papa Smurf.

"It's not your fault, it could had been worse if we had Brainy under observation."

"No telling what would happen," said Chernov, "Chad, get a smurfvee over here. We'll take Izotov, Briany, and Rick to the infirmary and make sense what had happened."

"Yes sir." said Chad.

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	44. Act III: Chapter XLIV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XLIV_

Once at the infirmary, Rick was placed and tucked into a bed as Colonel Izotov and Brainy went surgery. Green smurf doctors managed to extract the bullet out of Izotov and sterilized his wounds. As they patch him up, other doctors cut open Brainy's skull to see what Dragovich had done to him. What they found was a small microchip about the ¼ the size of the head of a pin. It was attached to Brainy's frontal lobe, a part of the brain that controls reason and voluntary motor control. After checking the other parts of the brain, they found no obvious signs of tampering. They stuck Brainy's skull cap back on and stapled it in place. He was patched up and sent to the recovery room where he would be observed and guarded by armed green smurf soldiers.

Chernov sat with his friends in the lobby, he said nothing and made no eye contact with anyone. Rachael sat beside him along with Cherskey and Nelly. Smurfette sat beside Papa Smurf, who looked tired and was ready to drop to snooze land. Sergei and Oleg socialized to each other in Russian, they talk to no one else. Green smurfs armed with RS-100 equipped with dual mags guarded every corner of the room. For once Chernov saw discipline in his fellow half-brothers and sisters, but they're too easy to crack. One of them farted abruptly, within a couple seconds some of the green smurf guards snickered.

_Like they saw that coming. _Chernov thought.

He stared at the gray wall as bulletproof windows loomed over him, revealing the outside world through their tinted glass in a high definition effect. Chernov gazed out and saw nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. The Smurf Village was surrounded by a diversity of plants and animals, not just trees. Teaming with life beyond imagination. The beauty they provided was worth more than any gram of gold. The Green Smurf Colony is deep within the forest not to far away. Here, both in and around the colony. There's only trees. No bushes, no grass, no flowers. Just trees. The silence of this place is disturbing, stripped of most of its diversity from the green smurfs whom they shelter and protect. The reward of giving an artificial species a home.

Chernov hadn't realized it until now, this place is nothing but death. The Green Smurf Colony had little to call itself smurf. No mushroom houses or bugs and whatnot. Just holes either used to shelter live green smurfs and dispose of dead ones. Chernov thought about changing that. But not now, not during wartime.

"Papa Smurf." he called out.

Papa Smurf looked up from across the room, "Yes Chernov?"

"What makes a forest, a forest?" he asked.

"A forest is a community teaming with diversity and life."

"The forest that shelters the colony doesn't have that title, it's nothing but trees. An environmental footprint felt on the land over here, no birds sing, no insects chirp. All that's heard here are firearms and machines... Be honest, did you noticed that?"

"Yes, I had."

Chernov leaned forward and sat up, "After the war, can you help the Green Smurf Colony terraform its environment? In return I'll send you some green smurfs to protect the Smurf Village from any more threats."

"My little smurfs told me that you smurf bravely in defending the village," said Papa Smurf, "If only you had more help from your own, I already feel like I'm getting too old to lead them."

"You retire, and martial law will take effect. I'm not going to lie to you, it's not fun. I'm a military leader, not a civilian leader. It's the way I was bred, the way I was made to do things."

"By your father."

"Much more deeper than that, way deeper than that. My family had been bred for war since the Roman Empire, those days were much worse since there's no end to suffering. Here's something to think about. Me and my fellow relative's lifespan is a simple blink of an eye to yours. If we hadn't come in and changed everything, what do you think would happen to you and your smurfs?"

Papa Smurf didn't answer, his eyes stared off to space in search of one. "We didn't know about the green smurfs," chirped Oleg, "During the Humanoid Wars, we were heading to a course towards the Smurf Village. Hadn't the Green Smurf Colony wasn't in the way, we would had found you guys and taken you prisoner."

"Then enslaved them," added Sergei, "You knew that was part of the plan, search for slaves to fix the backbone of the red smurf's war economy."

"Yeah," said Oleg, "The plan was killed and buried once the green smurfs started wiping out red smurf outposts, all of our resources turn to fighting them. The result was like a giant trying to kill a single ant who barricaded several feet into the ground. You have your forest to thank for that Chernov."

Chernov grinned, "It's not my forest, me and my half-siblings are simply borrowing it. Sooner or later, we'll have to give it back to nature. But not today, or tomorrow, or next year, or next century. Maybe in a few thousand years, if we live that long."

A green smurf medical officer came walking into the room, "Chernov," he said, "Rick's awake. He's in deep shock, despite his condition he insist you speak to him."

"Okay then," said Chernov, "Papa Smurf, Smurfette. You too come with me."

"Why me?" asked Smurfette.

Chernov sighed, "Because Rick is your son, it is best to have a mother by your side during a time of stress."

"He's right Smurfette." said Papa Smurf.

The medical officer lead the three past several halls and a flight of stairs going up. They approached Rick's room and the medical officer pushed the door open, "Rick, he's here."

When they saw him, Rick's head was bandaged above the eyebrows. Some of his hair was shaved off, his camouflaged smurf hat covered whatever mess the doctors left in his surgery. Chernov pulled up a chair beside him and pulled out a light, "Let me see your eyes."

Rick's eyes flickered as Chernov shined the light into his retinas, "Pupils are uneven, a sure sign of a concussion."

"I don't know what Brainy did," said Rick, "But I knew what he had unearthed."

"What exactly?"

"Memories, long forgotten from year's past. It was my... birth."

Chernov pulled out a notepad and pen, "Go on."

Rick began to talk about his beginnings, including the other green smurfs. Every green smurf and everyone that knows them, knew of their beginnings. All of the green smurfs were originally blue smurfs, they all looked identical. You couldn't tell the difference between them and the real smurfs. Their DNA, a unique combination of human and smurf genes, made the difference.

"I remembered coming out of those vats, I struggled to breath the air. It was agony. I recall that Dad had help, but I didn't knew who they were. They were humans, but their faces were covered in medical masks. I couldn't remember their eyes, maybe I never will. All I remember was getting cleaned up and dressed in white pants and hat. I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time and I asked myself: What's going on here. Somehow, Chernov downloaded a lot of our knowledge into our heads during development. Which explains our ability to speak our minds and be aware of the world for what it is."

"Do you remember seeing me in that crowd when everyone was at the Smurf Village for the first time?"

"I was in the back of the group, I couldn't see sh*t- Wait, this is the most important part. Where I was born, I remember seeing that statue I saw in the picture right at the entrance. By god, the one in the picture and the one at my birthplace, they're identical. Dragovich may had made his base at the birth place of the green smurfs."

"Let's not waste anymore time then," said Chernov, "The green smurfs, except me, has 3 parents. One father; one biological mother, Smurfette; and a surrogate mother. This surrogate mother may be the vats in the lab, if that's the case..."

Chernov put the two to two together. Numerous red smurfs, the picture in the red smurf file, secret mountain complex, Rick's claim that the complex was his species' birthplace... "Dragovich could be using the complex to clone his best soldiers, and send them against us."

The room went silent, it was so quiet that no one can hear anyone breathe. The medical officer's eyes crossed before collapsing stone cold onto the floor.

**. . .**

With confirmation of the red smurf base, it was time to mobilize the army once more. Any armored vehicle in reserve was brought out, fixed up, and sent out to pick up a determined crew. Several S-34 tanks and artillery cannons from Colonel Antosha's army were repainted from brown to an olive green, the red smurfs who operate those tanks were given a new uniform: Digital camouflage. Though it doesn't seem right to them, they decided not to argue since the green smurfs had made the conditions in their tanks more comfortable. After taking a good look at the red smurf tank rounds, they discovered that they're still using the shaped charge. So the S-34 tanks were fitted with cage armor for better reassurance.

Recon planes over Mt. Kleiner Fub showed heavy Spetsnaz infantry garrisons, so the Ripsaws were brought in, followed by several regiments of armored cars. The red smurfs love using infantry over armored divisions, since they have great mobility and can get into the crooks and crannies. They use their tanks only to support their infantry, green smurfs on the other hand use their tanks to go either on the offense or defense but no support. So Chernov decides to put the tanks in the front lines, once the red smurf defenses are breached they will move in.

What really was bogging down Chernov's mind was the fact that the red smurfs were using his father's work against his family. Dragovich made life disposable, the more red smurfs killed the more they're replace. No wonder they had so many casualties, they made no effort to prevent them. Chernov knew they might had set up a trap, but also knew he might as well have to destroy that place in the end. He bet his fellow half-siblings were feeling the strain more about their place in the world, it's the greatest test of their species yet.

The door opened and Rick stepped on through, he slumped into a chair as he placed his hands on the sides of his head, "Brainy hit me hard," he said, "My skull feels like it's going to explode."

"How you're doing?" asked Chernov.

"I'm having no trouble thinking, but my head hurts like hell. I can't fight by your side in the final moment, but I can provide a supporting role and what not."

"You shouldn't be fighting with your current state."

"I'm all you have when it comes to strategy and countermeasures, do you have anyone to take my place for this battle?"

"Sergei will do, he survived being trapped underneath a mountain I'm sure he'll fair well in this fight as well."

Rick got up and opened the nearby icebox, he grabbed an icepack and placed it on his scalp, "Ahh, that's better."

The door creaked open, Chernov looked up and saw Papa Smurf, along with several of his best smurfs: Hefty, Handy, Greedy, Smurfette, and Grandpa Smurf walked right in. The determined look on his face showed something that Chernov had long hoped for, but what was it?

"Chernov Reznov," said the village leader, "Me and my little smurfs are willing to fight by your side during this dark hour. After all you've done for us, we can only repay you by returning the favor."

"I appreciate the help Paps, but there's a couple problems. You and Grandpa Smurf are too old to handle the stress of war. Your bones are more hollow and porous than the younger smurfs. You saw how I broke Brainy's wrist right, with that same amount of force I can break your femur with a simple love tap. Second, once you realized you killed another smurf you're going to carry that memory for the rest of your life. You'll have flashbacks, nightmares, and if anyone close to you dies, a ghost created by your own mind will haunt you 24/ 7."

"I'm well aware of that Chernov."

"Getting shot by arrows is a far cry when compared to bullets. A single rifle round can take your head off. A shotgun blast might as well blow you in half," Chernov took off his hat and sat it down on the table, "To a green smurf if we loose at least one of your smurfs, all of the work we've accomplished, all of the victories... will be all for nothing. To put some of your folks at the front lines..."

"You can have us in your armor divisions." said Hefty.

Chernov stared at the region map on the round table for a moment, then turned his attention back to Papa Smurf, "Tell you what, I'll include most of your smurfs in our artillery, heavy tanks, and vertibirds. Even with my approval the green smurfs will not allow this. I have to take their demands to heart, morale is somewhat mixed with you guys in the equation."

"We've survived far longer on our own before you arrived in the picture," said Grandpa Smurf, "The many wizards, doctors, and other humanoid species that wanted to smurf us, we prevail in the end. But we're now dealing with a more advanced civilization, there's no question that we would be wiped out by them. But you and your species came by our side and took the blow in full force. What's different about this enemy is that lives must be taken for it to be defeated. Just what kind of heart handles all this?"

"Someone whose been crushed beyond repair during early childhood. Toddlers and children recover quite fast, but mental recovery is a different story, especially if your childhood is barely 3 months."

There has been a period of silence in the room, Chernov sat up and put his hat back on, "Okay then, we'll throw you guys into the fight. Promise me that you won't get within physical contact with the red smurfs during the fighting. Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that?" asked Papa Smurf.

Chernov got up and pulled out a book that was wedged between a computer monitor and the HAM radio set, he blew the dust off of it and handed it to Papa Smurf, "_Art of War._" said Papa Smurf.

"Read that entire book from cover to cover," said Chernov, "It's insurance, just in case you wound up going off to do your own thing. I'm sure your fertile mind can handle learning something new for once."

"My experience might help me manage," said Papa Smurf as he tucks it into his pants, "Thanks."

Chernov then turns towards Rick, "Bro, make sure Smurfette reads a copy. Chances are the green smurfs will listen to Smurfette more since-"

"Yes, I'll get her a copy," said Rick stubbornly, "Should be another copy somewhere."

**. . .**

Ever since the Green Smurf Colony took Cuddles under its wing, she had been staying at Chad's house. Katusha seemed to like Cuddles, the two got along quite well. For Chad though, he knew there's going to be a time where he's going to be out of the picture. Katusha already lost her mother, maybe this latest battle she would loose her father as well. Chad knew she must have someone to watch over her in the next crucial years.

Chad opened the door to his home and saw Cuddles sleeping on the cot, the one that he'd set up for her once she arrived. She sat up and yawned, giving Chad a silly smile as he shut the door behind him, "Cuddles," said Chad, "Sister, there's something that you need to know."

That got Cuddles' attention, Chad took a deep breath and sighed, "What's coming up may be the most important moment to our species, I need you to promise me this. There's a chance that once I leave, I may never return home. I'm not sure what you saw when you were with Chernov at Laura's place, it's going to be a lot worse that that for sure. Katusha, my daughter, she's been a lot to me. She had already lost her mother to an infection. Can you watch her awhile I'm gone, take care of her as she's your own child? She may look after herself from time to time, but she needs a parent figure. I need you to step into her mother's shoes and take her place."

Cuddles nodded.

"You understand?"

"Yes." she said with a firm, but exaggerated tone.

That surprised Chad, Cuddles may be able to speak yet, "Thank you Cuddles."

Chad sat next to Cuddles and put an arm over her shoulders, without warning she grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a big kiss on the lips. But that wasn't a good luck kiss. Suddenly the door creaked open and Katusha stepped on through."

"Dad, are you-"

"Get out of here Kat," laughed Chad as he waved her off, "I have business to take care of."

She knew immediately what he was up to, she snickered as she rushed out of the spiderhole and shut the front door behind her.

**. . .**

Chernov waited with one of the green smurf armor divisions for Chad to arrive, it had already been 20 minutes since he sent the Secretary of Defense's daughter to fetch him. After such a long delay, Chad came strolling up nonchalantly towards Chernov with a load of confidence, "About time you got here, what kept you?"

"I... had some business to take care of."

"Chernov!" Rick came out of nowhere and handed Chernov a few magazines, "I found this in Jack's things awhile I was looking for him, they were sitting on his desk."

Chernov grumped, "In Reznov's name, where did he get this?"

"The only place I can think of was that red smurf outpost."

Chernov put the two to two together, "That greedy bastard."

As if of cue Jack came strolling up, before he could say anything Chernov held up the magazines, "You managed to get a hold of red smurf pornography, is that true?"

Jack froze, his cheeks burning with embarrassment, "Yes."

"I looked through them and noticed some things," said Rick, "There's a number of red smurfettes with different hair colors and styles along with bodies from many sizes, they use the smurf size scale as well."

"We may have something in common already," said Chernov, he tossed the pornography to Jack, "Keep this to yourself Jack."

"Yes sir."

Jack tucked the pornography into his backpack and hopped into the Apocalypse tank's cab hatch, Rick followed him into the cab as Chernov and Jack got into the turret's hatch. Gizmo, Tesla, and Lizzy were already seated at some of the heavy tank's controls. Chernov sat down at the chair that's connected to the turret, he put on the specialized goggles and radio headset and turned them on. Through the goggles, he can see out of the tank through cameras mounted each underneath two of its barrels. The tank vision was incredible, but it takes a moment to get used to, "Comm check."

"Copy," said Lizzy, "Here you crystal clear."

"Rotating turret 360 degrees."

Chernov grabbed the joystick mounted on the right arm of his chair and turned it to the left, the turret and it's cockpit rotated along with him as he got a sense of the world around him through the turret's cameras. Once the 360 spin was complete, Chernov checked his modes of vision, "Infrared's good, night vision is good, zoom in capability is good. Gizmo, how's your 2mm machine gun and flamethrower?"

"Good." said Gizmo.

"Tesla, how's your AA rocket launchers?"

"They're operational."

"Lizzy, how's are way to the outside world?"

"A.O.K." said Lizzy.

"What about you Chad, how's the steering and driving capability?"

"We won't know until we move sir." said Chad.

"Move the tank up a few centimeters."

Chad started the electric engine and the tank jolted a few centimeters forward, "Okay," said Chernov, "Now back to the original spot."

The Apocalypse tank jolted backwards before stopping where it once was, "Rick, how's the 360 Cam?"

The 360 cam is a second pair of eyes mounted on the top of the turret, it can remain stationary even when the turret is rotating. The camera can rotate freely without any problems, "Status is fine, no problems whatsoever."

"Jack, load the main guns."

Jack's job is a bit more complicated, he had to manually pick up 12mm rounds and put them each into the bore of the cannons. Since the ammo bay is built into the back of the turret, he can simply pull out a certain round and load the gun with it. Jack flexed his arms to prepare himself, he pushed the blast proof sliding door to the ammo bay, "What round do you need?"

"Standard in Gun 2, a dart round in Gun 1."

"Yes sir."

Jack muscled in the rounds into their guns and sealed them with a lever mechanism, "Loaded."

"Is the safety on?" asked Chernov.

"Yes sir."

"Lizzy, link me with the tank division commanders."

"Yes, bro!"

A few beeps later, he could hear some background noise presumably coming from the other ends, "Colonel Izotov," said Chernov, "How are you recovering?"

"I'm doing fine Chernov," said Izotov, "In red smurf society, antibiotics is unheard of."

"How you're settling into your tank Papa Smurf?"

"It's a bit cramped and unsmurfy," said Papa Smurf, "But I'll manage."

"Note that we'll start using codenames once we get out into the field, because of the risk of the enemy listening into our comms. So we'll call each other by the name of our tanks. Mine is the _Endeavor_, what's your tanks' names?"

"Mine is _Firefly_," said Colonel Izotov, "That's what it said on it's info panel right here."

"My tank is _Fortitude_," said Papa Smurf, "Same reason here."

"Now near those serial plates is a fire extinguisher," said Chernov, "You'll need them when your tank catches fire, just saying."

"I've fought enough fires that the name of tank is appropriate," said Izotov, "We're ready when you are."

"Okay then, let's roll!"

Chernov quickly switched his headset to tank comm, "Let's move out guys!"

**. . .**

The unified force of the army was made up of 15% blue smurfs and 20% red smurfs, the rest were regular green smurfs. Each force was commanded by their own leaders housed in Apocalypse tanks. These massive tanks were one of the most powerful war machinery the green smurfs had to offer. Despite the heavy armor and serious guns both offensive and defensive, they were slow, which makes them sitting ducks to anti-tank equipments. These tanks were built for strength, not performance. It is wise to keep these tanks out of sight and out of mind. Chernov knew that would be impossible in this battle, he hoped the armor and weapons were enough.

Mt. Kleiner Fub is situated in the most hostile terrain in the region, so making the trip over there by a large force would be nearly impossible. Chernov will not let that _opinion_ get in the way, so he had his forces carve a path through the forest once they reach the end of their available roads. They hug the Smurf River tightly, though not so tight that they might drive off the road. Live reconnaissance was placed ahead of the army to warn them of any threats. Even with insurance, Papa Smurf continued to complain on how exposed they were and how vulnerable they are. That made Chernov angry beyond relief. He dealt with this kind of crap from his siblings who were barely younger than him, but from an elder...

Chernov eventually got on the comms and said, "Look paps, if an entire human army of wizards come near us I'll have the air force wipe them off the face of the earth!"

Papa Smurf stammered before going silent, Chernov wondered if it was a mistake to bring him along. The village leader is trained for keeping the peace, not in fighting wars. To make matters worse, his beliefs are being challenged. Elders don't change as fast as they used to when they're young, Grandpa Smurf might help convince Papa Smurf in making hard decisions but it's doubtful. Advancing old age made him irresponsible, maybe Chernov can change that once the war's over... if he and everyone else survive to its conclusion. Best not to think of that thought.

_Fortitude _is being operated by Papa Smurf and his fellow smurfs, the most crucial parts such as the driving and reloading the turret is operated by green smurfs: Rachael doing the driving and Jammy doing the reloading (and the other help for Papa Smurf that's too complicated for him). Everything else by untrained blue smurfs from 2 or 3 different generations. Old and new must come together to survive in a changing world, that's how Dimitri said it. All Chernov need to do was to figure out an incentive to achieve equilibrium.

Chernov thought about his forces he's going to use: 300 green smurf infantry, 3 tank divisions, and several artillery pieces. The allegiance with the red smurfs gave the numbers a slight or moderate boost in some areas, which will make a big difference in both offensive psychology and military strategy. As far as he recalled, they don't seem to show much reaction when they knew they were going to fight their own. The civil war with the red smurfs became clear, so clear that the green smurfs were not reluctant to let them fight by their side. But they're conventional, not special forces. The red smurfs they will soon be fighting will be special forces: Spetsnaz. How do they truly feel about that? What does Sergei feel?

A single blue smurf dying will mark defeat, a good chunk of the green smurf race being annihilated will also spell defeat. Him dying doesn't seem to matter, as he earlier learned, but to accelerate and amplify doubt and a possible defeat. A single battle that will mark the conclusion of the Primary War. It doesn't matter who will win, what matters is that there will be peace in the end. But on whose terms? Maybe everyone dies in the end, does that how wars larger than any other in recorded history result? Chernov shook his head. It is foolish to fight a war you can't win, even from the start. It's all on his shoulders now, if it wasn't then there's no question that all hope lies on him. If he dies, even if it's not true, the green smurfs' resignation will result in their extinction. That will also spell the end of their blue buddies, whose happiness and peace might had cost them their lives.

Nothing is simple anymore, it's complex. Complex battles of war require blood to be spilled for an end result. It doesn't matter who lives and who dies, its victory or defeat. The two will determine life and death in themselves. Victory equals life. Defeat equals-

"You're approaching a woodsprite village up the river _Endeavor_," said Euro Eagle, "The place looks like a scar up here, you want to investigate?"

Chernov thought about it for a moment, "Is it near the river?"

"Bordering it."

"Okay then, we'll stop and take a look," Chernov adjusted his mike sensitivity, "To all ground forces, this is _Endeavor_. We're taking a short break over at this woodsprite village. In the meantime, we'll investigate what had taken place here. Be on your guard and only shoot when being shot upon, that's an order. Over and out."

Chernov switched back to tank comms, "Take us there Chad."

Chad took the _Endeavor _off the cleared path and towards the columns of smoke billowing out of the distance. Chernov had heard reports of the woodsprites trading with the green smurfs. Many of these trades were just pranks, just thoughtless, mindless pranks. With the green smurfs on the receiving end, the woodsprites get a mixed reaction depending on the prank attempted. One woodsprite gave a green smurf a present and took a boxing glove to the face, another wound up having bad diarrhea from a cake they made. Some green smurfs were spooked, other were pissed off. Green smurfs who witness these acts always laugh, which made the woodsprites think they were getting support. Though Chernov never had a woodsprite prank him, since he never met one in person, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to control his temper.

He did hear of a case just several months back where a woodsprite was trading with one of the green smurfs: Porridge in exchange for lumber. The green smurf wound up getting a face full of wheat flower, since that green smurf had been the victim up many green smurf pranks it had set him off beyond imagination. Sure enough that woodsprite had disappeared the next morning. Some woodsprites came over and asked about the missing one, all of the green smurfs simply said that no woodsprite came yesterday at all. That made the woodsprites think that he was ambushed, then Secretary of Defense Gregory ordered a search party for the missing sprite.

Within hours, they found the woodsprite in question. He was hanged from a tree by his feet with arrows impaling all over his body. His head was decapitated, blood pooled underneath the corpse. The scene was so disturbing that the mother of the woodsprite went insane, later she died from a heart attack. One green smurf approached Greg and told him that he seen the green smurf making a trade with the woodsprite and that the green smurf was pranked. When Greg went to the green smurf's spiderhole, he found him cleaning up his place. When asked, he simply denied that he ever met the woodsprite. The case was put to bed days later when a troll came forward and claimed that he killed the woodsprite.

That troll wasn't lying, but it sent a message to the woodsprites. These days, pranks were becoming rare from them. Eventually they cease altogether. Chernov found out what really happened from the green smurf weeks after the event. He had a change of heart, and confessed to Chernov that he hired the troll to kill the woodsprite. The Supreme Commander's reaction wasn't much, he simply told him that its best leave it in the past and get on with life. And that was end of that.

"Radiowave signatures suggest a chemical attack had occurred here," said Euro Eagle, "It also said that it occurred weeks ago."

Chernov switched the channel to the battlefield channel, "Is it safe to breathe?"

"It's now safe _Endeavor_."

"Copy." Chernov switch to the tank channel, "Take us to the town hall Chad, let's see if the mayor or any leader is still around."

"10-4 bro."

Looking through the turret's eyes, Chernov saw a lot of destruction. Woodsprite structures such as tree stumps and wooden cabins lay either partially burned or utterly destroyed. Thick black ash coated the ground, any recognizable plant matter was bleached white. The plants that were active all year round were blood red. Signs of a chemical attack were everywhere, as well as a firestorm. Chernov had seen this kind of destruction before, but not in a area with civilization. There weren't any woodsprites in the area, or that was what it looked like.

When they approached the town hall, they saw it mostly intact. The structure was simply covered in soot and ash, the only obvious damage were the broken windows. Chernov took off his goggles, removed his tank headset, and stood up, "Put it in park, remember my orders."

He grabbed the smurfsterner from behind is seat and loaded the submachine gun, next he put on a smaller headset that allows him to keep in touch with the army. Once all set Chernov popped open the hatch and stuck his head through. When he smelled the air, it was sheer death. No mistaken it. It overpowered the bleach and ash smells already present, but those weren't the only anomalies. Chernov turned the safety off of his submachine gun but kept his finger off the trigger. He approached the heavy wooden door in front of the town hall and gave it a sharp kick next to the door knob. The door cracked off its hinges and clattered onto the floor. House flies flew out of the void inside the town hall, was that where the smell was coming from?

"What's going on Chernov?" said Papa Smurf through Chernov's bulky headset.

Chernov didn't answer right away, he knew Papa Smurf was watching him. He simply walked into the pitch blackness and pulled out his flashlight. The light revealed a pile of humanoid bodies. Many were burned, others were mutilated. Whatever body that was recognizable as a woodsprite had greenish and gray skin with house fly maggots squirming out of them, signaling advanced decomposition. Realizing how grotesque the scene was, Chernov felt his stomach churn. He didn't like the thought of bodies being left out to rot. The question is, why were they rotting. The winter cold should had frozen them solid, slowing their decay. It took a moment for Chernov to realize the place was still warm. He shined the light around the interior of the room, which revealed more decaying bodies. Old blood smears and splatters coated the walls behind them, along with chunks of meat and brains.

His flashlight centered on a single radiator. Chernov recognized it was green smurf designed, he recalled they traded some technologies to the neighboring humanoid settlements around their size. The radiator was left on at the max, it showed signs of being tampered with. Were the red smurfs trying to make it explode? He didn't wanna find out, Chernov wisely turned around and left the town hall.

"What's in there comrade?" said Colonel Izotov.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Papa Smurf.

Chernov took a deep breath before speaking into the headset, "A massacre, the red smurfs slaughtered them all and left their bodies to rot in a heated town hall."

"Great smurfs..." Chernov saw _Fortitude_ nearby, Papa Smurf stuck his head out of the turret and bent over to the side. He looked nauseous, the smell struck his nose so hard that he shot back into his tank and sealed the hatch behind him.

Chernov walked back to _Endeavor _and got back into the turret, once he sat back into his chair he put back on his tank headset, "Set the place ablaze Gizmo, incinerate it."

"Copy."

Just as Chernov put the tank goggles back on, he saw a huge wall of flame shooting out of _Endeavor _and coated the wooden town hall with fire. The place went up as fast as the flames leave the flamethrower, plumes of smoke and ash poured into the sky, making it look like hell had come back to this place. Chernov switched back to the army's channel, "You okay Papa Smurf?"

"I'm fine." the village leader set exaggeratedly.

"We're not spending anymore time in this place. All forces resume to previous objective, we'll deal with this place after we dealt with Dragovich," Chernov pointed his finger towards the front of the tank and set with a loud commanding voice, "To Kleiner Fub we go!"

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	45. Act III: Chapter XLV

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter: XLV_

"You're approaching Kleiner Fub _Endeavor_," said Euro Eagle, "About 500 meters away."

"Whats the status of the Spetsnaz forces at the mountain?" asked Chernov.

"A lot of infantry surrounding the mountain, they took several S-34 tanks and hunkered them down in tank bunkers. They have some artillery here and there, but it doesn't look that many."

"What about rocket launchers or anything that can be used to break through armor?"

"It's spread out evenly, those crates behind them said otherwise."

"Any tents or bunkers?"

"Yeah, some are built into the mountain. The rest was are made out of regular mud and branches, along with a few sand bags."

"What about the machine guns?"

"Several 3mm machine gun nests, loaded with the safety off."

"Behavior?"

"Spetsnaz is passive, they're not expecting us."

_So Dragovich is feeling safe in that mountain, _thought Chernov, _Excellent. _

"Okay guys," said Chernov, "Set up the artillery and pound their behind. Ripsaws and armored cars will move in and clear out the infantry as the heavy tanks take care of the tank bunkers. That also means you _Firefly and Fortitude_."

"Copy," said Colonel Izotov, "I'm still having a bit of a hard time with the controls but I shouldn't have a problem firing the guns."

"We only take out the tank bunkers in our area?" asked Papa Smurf.

"Affirmative," said Chernov, "Then we push through."

"Roger."

"Euro Eagle, give the artillery squads the coordinates needed to hit them hard but don't tell them to fire."

"10-4 _Endeavor_." said Euro Eagle.

The _Endeavor _rolled through the forest, squashing several mounds of vegetation and compacting the snow and earth along the way. Without warning, Chernov saw what he was looking for and switched to the tan's channel, "Whoa, stop."

Chad halted the _Endeavor. _Right before the tank was a wide open space, the blackness of ash combined with the powdery whiteness of the snow to form a gray sludge. On the other side of no-man's land sits the Spetsnaz fortification. Chernov zoomed in the _Endeavor's _turret's eyes and took note of a few tank bunkers and machine gun nests, just what Euro Eagle said. He returned the cameras to regular zoom and switched back to the army's channel, "Artillery squads, confirm that you have your pre-marked targets."

"Copy _Endeavor_," said Judd, whose leading both all red and green smurf artillery squads, "Our targets are marked and our guns loaded."

"Commence firing."

"10-4."

Within a couple of seconds, loud thunders of explosion echoed behind Chernov. He saw fiery streaks of artillery shells coming into view, snaking from the top portion of the cameras. They all landed behind the Spetsnaz line and created huge plumes of fire. With Chernov's forces wrapped around Mt. Kleiner Fub, Hell was raining down in and around the place. Supreme Commander Chernov Reznov gave it a few moments before deciding to attack, "Charge!"

**. . .**

Papa Smurf knew how difficult it can be, even though he had quick training in operating a tank he still had no clue what he was doing. Though his little smurfs had figured everything out and with a couple of green smurfs to help him, making _Fortitude _able to fight in battle. Looking through the tank's cameras, he saw the destruction unfolding in front of him. He and several other lighter tanks charged forward with virtually no cover, if this was Chernov's plan he sure is making a gamble. Papa Smurf turned the turret and focused his sites on a tank bunker, the enclosed S-34 looked up and pointed its barrel at him.

"Load a couple of rounds in the guns Jammy." said Papa Smurf.

Jammy muscled in a couple of rounds from the ammo bay and loaded both guns with one round. When he was about done, the tank jolt as vibrations rocked the hull. It stunned Papa Smurf, he snapped out of his delusion and put back on his headset, "What happened?"

"We took a direct hit from an S-34," said Rachael through the headset, "They don't seem to had figure out how to bust through the armor yet."

"They hadn't?"

"We never use Apocalypse tanks enough for them to learn, so we haven't lost a tank in battle yet."

_No tanks lost, _thought Papa Smurf, _No wonder Chernov stuck me in one of these armored beasts._

Papa Smurf aimed the turret's guns at the enemy tank until he thinks he got it aimed right, "Fire!"

Jammy set off one of _Fortitude's_ main guns with a pull of a cord, Papa Smurf watch as the round blasted out of the barrel and streamed towards the tank bunker. It wasn't quite a perfect hit since it veered off to the left a little bit, but he managed to hit it regardless. The S-34 was blown to pieces, shards of metal shot everywhere as a fireball consumed what's left of the tank, "Tank smurfed." said Papa Smurf.

"Nice." said Jammy.

"_Fortitude_," said Euro Eagle, "You got a twinblade coming after you from your right flank."

Papa Smurf swiveled the turret and saw the twinblade in question, its windows was blackened, he couldn't see whose inside. That doesn't matter right now, it was after him and it was much more worse than the Howlibird. Best time to use the AA guns, but...

"Pappy," said Rachael, "You gotta aim the main turret at the Twinblade, then let Hefty take care of the rest."

"What?"

"The AA guns are built into the sides of the turret, they also reload themselves which is a nice bonus."

"Standing by Papa Smurf." said Hefty.

Papa Smurf centered his sights on the Twinblade, the Twinblade hovered from left to right in an effort to throw off his aim, "Got a lock!" said Hefty.

"Fire!"

The AA guns on both sides of the turret each spewed out a missile and raced towards the Twinblade, the Twinblade pulled away in an attempt to shake off the missiles. The missiles centered into the engines of the Twinblade and struck it. The engine exploded, sending the Twinblade spiraling out of control before crashing into the ground. Several of its propeller blades ripped away as they struck the ground, fire consumed the wreck as it skidded to a halt.

"The winged beast is down!" called out Papa Smurf.

Papa Smurf turned the turret back towards the Spetsnaz trench, there he saw the Ripsaws, Smurfvees, and armored cars doing quick work on the Spetsnaz infantry. Several Spetsnaz troops were firing their guns at the tanks, several rounds made direct hits, Papa Smurf can see them bounce off the armor. One Spetsnaz got out a sniper rifle and loaded it with a peculiar magazine clip, he aimed the sniper rifle down no-man's land and fired. The round left a fiery trail as it struck one of the boxy armored cars, it penetrated the hull and stopped the armored car in its tracks.

The Ripsaws fired their specialized 3mm Gatling mini guns upon the Spetsnaz, Papa Smurf looked away as he saw them get cut up and torn apart by the rounds. With blood flying everywhere, it was hard to stomach in. He tried to take his mind off of it by focusing his attention on the stalled armored car, "This is _Fortitude_. We got a armored car smurfed, it's... uhh-" Papa Smurf glanced at the number painted on the side of the armored car, "560."

"This is five-six-zero," said a green smurf, "The driver is dead, but everyone else is fine. Thanks for checking up on us _Fortitude_. _Endeavor_, permission to retreat to receive new driver."

"Make it quick five-six-zero." said Chernov.

"Thank you bro."

The armored car started moving again, it made a sharp U turn before retreating back towards the woods, "I appreciate your concern _Fortitude_," said Chernov, "But we worry about that after the battle, unless one of your smurfs are down and needs an immediate evac. The trench is mostly clear so you can drive across it. If you see any Spetsnaz, use either the 2mm machine gun or the flamethrower. Don't worry about their RPGs, they won't even dent you."

"Copy _Endeavor_," replied Papa Smurf, figuring out how to speak the radio language, "Engaging."

Rachael drove the _Fortitude _over the trench, the Apocalypse tank was long enough for it to cross over the trench without getting lodged in it. Just as it was barely across, several Spetsnaz soldiers crossed it's path in front of them. They were retreating, before Papa Smurf can do anything a huge wall of flame shot in front of him and set the Spetsnaz on fire. It was _Fortitude's _flamethrower, it was unleashing flaming ethanol and other flammable liquids out of its nozzle. Just as the flames stopped, the smoke cleared and revealed the Spetsnaz still running – now on fire. Many of them ran into the snow and put themselves out, other ran until they collapsed onto the ground. Those who collapsed made no attempt to get back up again. What they left behind was a lifetime of nightmares for the village leader, he may not even sleep for weeks after what had happened before him. He almost thought it was a terrible mistake to join the fight in the first place.

Papa Smurf shook his head. The reason why the green smurfs and red smurfs were killing each other was for the blue smurfs. Chernov called him and his little smurfs _pure_ smurfs since he had never seen such good in them in a long time. He wished there's a chance to hold onto that purity. Chernov was right about the green smurf's lifestyle, it made sense to keep both civilizations separate. The Primary War however, changed that. The word's of Chernov's father echoed through his head, _We have the right to live, but the privilege to be alive. _

"Pappy." said Rachael.

Papa Smurf switched the headset to the tank's personal channel, "Yes Rachael?"

"Remember that talk we had one morning before all this happened... about Chernov?"

"Yes, I do."

"He barely sleeps, he's always grumpy, and at times he's never even home. You're showing behavior similar to his, did you know that?"

Papa Smurf didn't know what to say, "I didn't realize that."

"Now you understand everything about Chernov. Everyday, he hoped... this... never happen to the Smurf Village. But it happened, so now look where we are. We have a chance to end the fighting for the rest of our days. We wouldn't be able to get a second chance, if we fail this battle then it's assured extinction to both our species. Whoever is left will be consumed in madness, or taken as a slave."

Papa Smurf chuckled, "Is that what Chernov taught you?"

"No Pappy," laughed Rachael, "It's being human, not smurf."

With that thought of mind, Papa Smurf felt more relaxed, but still all the more scared. _What had the smurf culture become? _He thought.

"Okay _Fortitude,_" said Chernov, "We'll be clearing our way towards the entrance. Once there, we'll get out and continue the rest of the way deep inside the mountain."

"Roger _Endeavor_." Papa Smurf responded.

He sat back and stared out the Apocalypse tank's eyes all nauseous, thankfully he hadn't ate anything this morning.

**. . .**

Chernov's forces push through the Spetsnaz defenses, virtually squeezing the mountain till the pulp spits out. Some machine gun fire here, a firestorm of flame over there. The Spetsnaz were on the retreat, but where were they retreating to? As he pushed further on, he saw a huge swarm of Spetsnaz running towards a single point, Gizmo went straight to work taking out most of them with both the gun and flamethrower. The rest that survived the onslaught and are still able to walk ran into the largest cave he had scene yet. Once the last Spetsnaz was in the cave, a large metal door fit for a human closed shut.

It was just what Chernov had expected. With the entire mountain surrounded from the sky to every crook, cranny, and cave on the ground; he had Dragovich pinned in harder than any human had squeezed a smurf. When the dust cleared, Chernov ordered _Endeavor _to stop just a couple meters from the iron door then got onto the radio. "_Fortitude _and _Firefly_," he spoke past the static, "Regroup with me, I need to speak to you guys in person. My squad, get out of your tanks and meet up with me as well."

"Roger." said Izotov.

"I hear you, I'm coming." said Papa Smurf.

Chernov got out of his chair and opened the turret's hatch, he and his entire tank crew came climbing out of _Endeavor _and sat on top of her hull. They watched as the two other Apocalypse tanks rolled up, their treads were so caked up with mud that they left a prominent trail behind them. Just as they parked, Chernov looked around and saw the DNA statue itself. It had a lot more moss covering it now than it had in the picture, but it was the same statue nonetheless. A cold feeling reemerge inside Chernov's stomach: There was no question that this was his father's work.

The two tanks opened up and their crew came pouring out, Chernov got down of _Endeavor _and approached both Papa Smurf and Colonel Izotov, "This is it," said Chernov, "All of our lives come down to this single moment, which will determine the fate of _all _smurfs regardless of skin color."

"So what happens now?" asked Papa Smurf.

"We're going to take the room around the way out of this place battlefield style, then we'll take the rest of the bunker covert style. Two simple goals need to be completed for this mission to be a success: Kill Dragovich, blow up the complex. At this point, we're pretty much flexible when executing the objectives."

"Okay then." said Colonel Izotov.

"Papa Smurf," said Chernov, "How long had you known me for?"

"About two years." said Papa Smurf.

"Now take your entire lifespan, which is about 1,000 years, and put my age in the middle of it. What result is a blink of an eye. Don't you see Papa Smurf? Our relationship is like mankind's relationship to the Planet itself. We arrive suddenly and change everything, that's what things are coming down to."

"What are you smurfing with this?"

Chernov placed both hands on Papa Smurf's shoulders, "The Green Smurf Colony will not last with a military style government, we seen that with the red smurfs. _You _and all of your smurfs must help run, not a colony, but an actual _nation _of smurfs. This is something you can't run away from, nor ignore it. The battle is determined by Dragovich's life, not mine. He knows that. If I die and we have a victory, you and your smurfs must run the colony."

"But-"

"The green smurfs are a young species and they are grandsmurflings to you. You seen the way how I treat my own smurfs, how I disciplined them. Even saw me kill one of my own." Chernov paused for a brief moment to let it sink in, "I don't like doing that, it's not smurfy in your eyes and you know it. So you and your own little smurfs must provide guidance to the Green Smurf Colony, to keep them from being lost in their own greed and stupidity. Your lifespan will vastly outlive mine and so are your smurfs. I wish there's an easy way out for you, but their isn't. That's just how destiny arranged everything, there's nothing I can do to change that."

Papa Smurf sighed as Chernov let's go of him, "You're right, but this requires planning that might take years. If somehow, you're gone, who's going to take your place for the time being?"

Chernov looked past Papa Smurf and saw Smurfette, standing beside Rachael, "Smurfette," he said, "Can you please come here."

Smurfette came forward without question, "All these green smurfs here are your little smurfs. They're your smurflings and grandsmurflings, you'll treat them as such. I know I told this to you about a dozen times, but _your _the mother of all the green smurfs in existence. I'm just your nephew, since I had my own mother whose purpose is to provide a green smurf prototype. I lost my mother just by being born, you and everyone else saw the consequences of that from my actions and my temper. But all my half-brothers and sisters still have their mother, and they will listen and obey your orders from cradle to grave."

"We all love you Smurfette," said Gizmo, "We all do."

"I love you guys as well." said Smurfette as she blushed.

"It's just like taking care of Baby Smurf, but on a more complex scale. From all the power the Smurf Village has over the Green Smurf Colony, you have at least half of all that power alone. If I were to be shot and killed in the final battle, you will unofficially take over the entire Colony's military and armed forces."

"She's not a general." said Papa Smurf.

Chernov groaned, "The reason why she exist is Gargamel, he brought her to the world just to kill you guys. She's very good at a covert operation and came close to finishing you guys off. But you brought her onto your side and made her a real smurf, but she still have those skills and instincts." Chernov returned his attention back to Smurfette, "I know you can do it, when it comes down to killing something you'll be surprised that you'll not hesitate. Gargamel programed that into you. Take it as a blessing, not a curse. If you wound up taking a life, you have your children to patch up your heart. They'll explain everything else once the time comes. Here's the most important thing."

Chernov took off his smurf hat and took a breath, "The reason why we're fighting this war is because of the blue smurfs. If just a single one dies, the bad stuff fills the vacuum and all is lost. The pure smurfs, you guys, stands between Dragovich and the smurf's extinction. If we either loose you Smurfette, or you Papa Smurf and your papa smurf, we loose everything. But for me, if you guys loose me that won't change a damn thing. I have gotten all of you guys this far, I can provide no more support. We'll eventually accomplish this final mission of the war, there's no question about it."

Rachael ran up to Chernov and hugged him, then they kissed, "Rachael," said Chernov as he handed her his hat, "Go with Smurfette and the others, don't come in after me if I fail to make it out alive."

"No Chernov." she whined."

"The kids have reached a point where they can take care of themselves, we've all seen that directly. Once I get inside the mountain complex, you along with everyone else must steer clear. This place might go up in a fireball. I love you with all my heart. But if you really love someone, you must let them go. That's the case with relationships no matter how it was arranged."

Rachael cried on his shoulder for a brief moment, before walking away with Smurfette, "So is this goodbye?" asked Papa Smurf.

"If I don't make it out," said Chernov, "The only good thing if I don't make it out is that it's worth watching, everyone loves a good boom."

Chernov's squad laughed, including Colonel Izotov, "Izotov," said Chernov, "Blow that door open, just make a hole big enough for us to get through. Once it's open, you and everyone else stay out here. Only me and my squad goes in. Don't let anyone else in or out that hole, got it?"

"Sure Chernov," said Izotov, "Just promise me that you'll drive a blade into his chest then hang him from a piece of rope."

"Even better, I bring the body with me if I managed to kill him."

"Oh, you're on!"

"Chernov!"

Sergei ran up to Chernov and stopped before him, "I wish to go with you in there, me and Dragovich. We go way back, I wish to see this through by your side."

"I understand Sergei." said Chernov.

Jack handed Sergei a Smurfsterner and some ammo, "It's going to be close quarters in there, just saying."

"Send my regards to Adrian, Sergei." said Colonel Izotov.

"I will."

Colonel Izotov and his crew return in _Firefly_, once situated back in everyone backed away as the Apocalypse tank got into position before the iron door. Both guns fired, they streamed at the door with a loud blast and exploded once they impacted the bottom of the door. When the dust cleared, it revealed a hole no bigger for a mouse, "Let's go, go!" ordered Chernov.

"Here's for destiny." said Tesla.

Chernov, Sergei, and the squad rushed into the hole and into the blackness void that laid beyond it, _All or nothing. _Chernov thought, _Failure equals extinction, victory equals secured future. _

That made him nearly laughed, _I am so screwed._

****TO BE CONTINUED...****


	46. Act III: Chapter XLVI

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_ACT III: Chapter XLVI_

As the squad moved through the cave, Chernov can't help but see how dark it was. Obviously this wasn't like the cave he was born in. The one Dragovich was taking shelter in was much more larger, maybe it goes half a kilometer into the Earth for all he know. This placed might be trapped, Dragovich had to prepare for his arrival somehow. There was some electrical lighting up on the ceiling, it helped develop some sort of night vision.

"Would we all die in this place Chernov?" asked Rick.

"That's up to you to decide," said Chernov, "All I know was that you were born in this place, is everything becoming strangely familiar?"

"Yeah, I wish that was the only problem we have."

"Why are we going in and not the army?" asked Chad.

"We'll get into each others' way," said Chernov, "I'm not willing to risk lives just to get a single tank in here."

"If we're going to blow this up," said Lizzy, "Can we extract the information from this place before we do so?"

"We can, if it's available to us."

**. . .**

Papa Smurf sat there on the turret of _Fortitude, _something wasn't sitting well in him. His heart told him to go in there and help Chernov, but his mind said to stay out here. He couldn't figure out what to do. _Go in or not,_ he thought, _What should I-_

He felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned and saw Grandpa Smurf there, "He and his entire squad is going to get themselves killed in there. They will definitely need backup."

"Of course they do."

"They don't even have anything to blow the place up with, but we do."

"Hmm..." Papa Smurf stood up and turned towards Colonel Izotov, who was drinking some vodka out of his flask, "Izotov, we gotta follow Chernov in there!"

"Of course we should," he yelled, "He hadn't figured out that he is outnumbered in there!"

"Everybody back in the tanks, we're gonna following Chernov in there!"

The tank crews of _Fortitude _and _Firefly _got back into their tanks and into their controls, Papa Smurf got onto the radio and fiddled with the channels, "Okay, we're going to blow the entire door down with all of our firepower."

"Sure, why not?" said Izotov, "Aim for the hinges and doorknob, knock those out and the whole door will fall flat on its face."

Both tanks aimed their main guns at the door's weakpoints, once they were centered Papa Smurf gave the order, "Fire!"

**. . .**

The loud explosions behind them made Chernov and his squad run further down the tunnel, "This place is going to cave in on us!" cried Gizmo.

"Go, go!" cried Chernov.

The squad ran down the cave and quickly reached the end. There was also a metal door here, but this one was wide open. Inside, bright lights ensued, nearly blinding the green smurfs. When they reached the edge of the door, their jaws dropped at what they saw.

Within this wide open L-shaped space contained a modern lab, in this lab lay rows and rows of tiny vats made out of glass tubes and pressure pumps. The vats sat on the counters up against the wall as the open space had red smurf buildings constructed on the floor. What really shocked Chernov, even though he expected it, was the vats containing red smurfs at various stages of development. They were clones, it was hard for Chernov to describe the grotesque scene of this experiment that Dragovich had performed. For once in his life, he felt too horrified to speak.

At the other side of the room lay a wooden door that was jammed open, inside the room was a massive metal fortress built into the human structure. If Dragovich had anywhere to hide, it could be there. Chernov pulled out his RS-100 and loaded it, looks like the Smurfsterner will have to wait. Spetsnaz had barricaded themselves within the longer part of the L-Shaped room. The green smurfs were at the bottom of the larger but shorter section. Between them and the barricade was a stretch of flat tiles, it was a stalemate.

"There's gotta be more rooms like this throughout the lab," said Rick, "I just don't know where to begin."

"I agree," said Chernov, "But that still didn't give many places for Dragovich to hide, if we're going to progress we have to-"

A large blast above the squad interrupted Chernov, he dropped to the ground and pulled down his fellow advisers as blast after blast rips the air above them. Large streaks of fireballs streaked above them and crashed into the Spetsnaz fortification. Huge plumes of smoke rises up to the ceiling as small fires broke out, Chernov heard a ventilation system kicked in and saw the smoke get sucked up into the vents. His father was quite serious about safety alright. Within moments, the barricade was destroyed. Spetsnaz from their own buildings and what's left of the barrier retreated further into the lab.

Chernov looked over his shoulder and saw _Fortitude _and _Firefly _before him, a hatch to _Firefly's _turret popped out and Colonel Izotov stuck his head out, "We knew you needed our help," said Colonel Izotov, "We'll secure the entrance awhile you find Dragovich, radio back when you finished him off!"

"Thanks for the unexpected help Izotov," Chernov said with resignation. He turned back towards his squad and nodded, "Let's move, find Dragovich. Sergei, try to stick with me most of the time."

"Da!" said Sergei.

The squad scrambled back up onto their feet and ran across the massive lab, just as they got midway they heard an intercom system came online, "I've been expecting you Reznov," said a voice, "Not just you Chernov, but your fellow half-siblings. I have to admit, you got me surrounded. But can you find me directly and accomplish your objective? Isn't that a maybe? Well, I'd been rooting around your father's work and found some interesting intel. Though I have no use for most of them, I did find some crucial intel that helped me put this base into operation. Would you really kill the _mechanical _mother of the green smurf race? Does she value similar to the _biological _mother? Did you really thought of that before you came here?"

"He knows that we're going to blow this place up?" asked Gizmo.

"Kinda predictable," said Chernov, "We always blow up major red smurf installations."

"Hard to believe I was born here," said Lizzy, "I just hope we don't die here as well."

An explosion occurred behind Chernov, he glanced back and saw _Firefly _destroying the red smurf buildings that was there. Red smurfs who were still inside ran out in all directions, they weren't armed and were probably not a threat. Chernov return focused to the massive metal structure, when they near he saw several red smurf faces pop out, "Everybody to the wall!" he ordered.

The squad quickly veered left and rushed to the wall as several rounds from the medal structure whizzed by, Chernov saw _Fortitude _heading his way. It fired both guns at the iron fort, blowing away the machine gun nest and other snipers up above the entrance. As _Fortitude _continued it's unrelenting barrage, Chernov had his squad speed-walked towards the small wall section just between the door frame and cabinet. As they made their approach, Chernov saw Lizzy scream and go down, "Lizzy!" cried Rick.

Rick quickly picked her up and rushed her towards the wall section as the squad tried their best not to get shot. Once they were at the wall section, Chernov pushed Rick aside as he laid Lizzy on the floor, "They shot me in the leg," cried Lizzy, "For some reason this hurts more than getting burned!"

Chernov pulled out his multi-tool and extracted the bullet, Lizzy did her best to hold back her screams as he wiped the wound with a moist-alcohol swab before placing some gauze bandaging over it, "That should help for now," said Chernov, "Thankfully an artery hadn't been hit or anything."

"The front of the fort should be clear now Chernov." said Papa Smurf on the radio.

Chernov pressed the talk button on his radio headset, "You took a big risk in doing that _Fortitude_, but thanks. Stay where you are and guard the entrance unless Colonel Izotov says otherwise. We might not have any radio reception in that fort since it will probably act like a Faraday cage, so expect a radio silence from us."

"I will Chernov, over."

Chernov turned back to the group, "Can Lizzy walk?"

"I think I can," said Lizzy, "But I'll limp."

"Here's the plan: We'll secure the room with the main entrance, then me and Sergei will push on through and find Dragovich. Don't move until I said otherwise."

"Sure." said Rick.

The squad moved towards the entrance, Chad, Gizmo, and Tesla got on one side as Jack, Chernov, and Rick got in the other, "Break it down Jack." said Chernov.

Jack used his metal leg and forced the door open with a back kick, the doors flew open as Chernov threw a flashbang inside. He saw several Spetsnaz scrambled in there before he shielded himself from the flashbang. When he heard it go off, he and his squad gunned down most of the Spetsnaz in the room. The rest of the Spetsnaz retreated to several doors and slammed them shut, "Looks like a lobby," said Chernov, "Okay, defend this position guys. Sergei, your with me."

"Alright Chernov."

"Chernov?" asked Rick.

"Yeah?"

"If you came back alive, please don't do a dramatic exit."

Everyone chuckled, "Sure," said Chernov, "I'll try not to."

He and Sergei head to the door and went through it, Chernov laughed with he shut the door behind him, "Yeah, let's do a dramatic exit."

"Showoff." snickered Sergei.

"Okay, you doing it."

"Why me?"

"The first smurf who speaks is the one who get's owned, you spoke."

"Aw."

**. . .**

Rick sat Lizzy down on the nearby couch in the lobby, carefully elevating her injured leg, "God," he said, "The wound looks bad, are you sure you okay Lizzy?"

"I don't know," said Lizzy, "I'm not really sure anymore."

"I know this may not be a very good time, but... thanks for helping me get back up onto my feet back at the colony. I don't know what to do without you."

"It's alright Rick, I just wish things were different for Dashie."

"Well, the relationship was pretty much about over just a few weeks after Smurfette straightened her out," said Rick, "She just stick around since I didn't know what to do with her, realizing that she had been using her sweet time to provide information with our enemies made the end of the relationship final. Too bad I didn't tell her directly, I had planned to do it after Chernov saved us from the red smurfs. However she continued to resist, which forced Chernov's hand."

"He told me about it, said he didn't hesitate at all. I asked him why, he simply told me I wouldn't understand. Chernov left it at that."

Rick took her hand, "If we don't make it out of this alive, I just want you to know that I love you."

Lizzy giggled, "I suppose it has been awhile since you had romance."

Everybody in the room laughed, "Yeah whatever." said Rick.

The two leaned towards each other with puckered lips, then kissed. They held it for a moment before they released, "You taste like rotten ketchup."

Rick laughed, "What?"

"Nothing."

Rick looked up at the ceiling and saw a huge glass ceiling light that heads all the way to the top floor, the other floors corresponding to the ceiling light don't look like they're part of it. It made him nervous, he returned his attention back to Lizzy and said, "We're going to need to move, I don't like that skylight one bit. Too exposed. Just sit tight and let me move the couch up against the wall."

**. . .**

Chernov and Sergei pushed down through the corridors, gunning down many Spetsnaz along the way. The red tint of the lighting didn't really help much, but the signs that were leading the way were. They climbed up several stairwells heading up to the top floor, pushing their way to the level where Dragovich was taking cover at. Even though it was getting tiresome just to get upstairs, the two pushed on nonetheless.

"Okay," said Chernov, "Just a few more levels to go, we will make our encounter with Dragovich there."

"Why does he have to make his bunkers so tall?" asked Sergei, "I never understand that part about him, he just makes it tall and doesn't use most of the space."

"That explains why we aren't encountering much resistance."

As they head up the stairwell, they stumbled into what looked like a crude barricade of heavy furniture, "Sh*t," cursed Chernov, "There's no way we're clawing our way up this barricade, "We'll have to find another way up."

"Dragovich always have these buildings with two emergency escape stairwells," said Sergei, "We're in one of them, the other one should be on the other side of this building."

Sergei went for the door on their current level, when he opened it a Spetsnaz soldier popped out and shot him square in the chest. As Sergei went down, Chernov hammer striked the Spetsnaz soldier in the neck with his fist, then smashed his temple against the metal frame of the door. When the Spetsnaz soldier dropped to the floor, Chernov grabbed Sergei's shoulders and pulled him away. He was clutching his chest, Chernov was surprised that the soldier hadn't killed him outright, "Where is it," asked Chernov, "Let me see the wound."

Chernov opened up Sergei's digital camouflaged uniform and was surprised to see that the bullet had penetrated his vest. He grabbed the gun Sergei was shot with and examined it, "A magnum, not good!"

"Just go," insisted Sergei, "Get Dragovich, don't let him escape!"

Chernov handed back Sergei's rifle, "Sit tight and hang on, I'll come back for you once we're done here."

Sergei nodded. Chernov picked back up his rifle and rushed down the hall, he was surprised to encounter no further resistance. Turns out the other emergency stairwell was at the other side of the hall, which was a weird way to design a building. As Chernov climbed it, he thought about his earlier accomplishments and the number of times he saved the day. They will all be for nothing if he failed his objective, and they will be overwhelmed by this accomplishment. The world of the smurfs would change dramatically, the common good rested on his shoulders. He was nearly killed twice throughout the war, he hoped that he survive the third attempt.

It wasn't long before the stairwell ended, Chernov pushed open the fireproof door and walked through. It was a massive room, clearly a well built command center. The most amazing features was the floor and ceiling windows, they were massive. Chernov approached the glass and looked down, _That is one hell of a fall_. He thought.

Something twitched behind him, Chernov swung his RS-100 around and struck an arm as it was trying to hit him with a hammer. The hammer was tossed aside and it landed on the glass, it smashed through the glass pane and fell through. Several prominent cracks formed as Chernov fought with his attacker, the gun was knocked out of his hands which tossed far to the other side of the room. His attacker placed a few punches and kicks on Chernov, causing him to collapse onto the ground. When he looked up to see who it was, he saw a red smurf wearing a general's uniform. He was just as tall as him, this was no coincidence that this red smurf was General Adrian Dragovich.

"I'd been expecting you Chernov," said Dragovich, "Too bad we hadn't meet in person at Fort Romanov, but now things are more calmer here."

"Who are you?" Chernov asked, pretending to be confused.

That surprised Dragovich, "After piecing all the clues and tracking me down, you have no idea who I am!"

"All we know that this is the last red smurf base to blow up, the red smurfs we managed to capture said nothing about a superior general. Even the colonel we managed to capture, he said that the general he once knew was long gone. Driven mad by his own ambitions."

"How can I blame him for that? If only I had a little more time, I would had finished him off like the rest of them."

Chernov pulled out his pistol, but held onto the barrel end. He jumped up and struck Dragovich in skull with it, but Dragovich managed to placed a few well strikes on him. The two leaders fought with specialized unarmed moves, Chernov managed to body slam Dragovich onto the glass as he got the pistol knocked out of his hands. After exchanging a few good punches, Dragovich picked up Chernov with all his strength. He was surprised to be launched with a good well shoved, almost mid-air as he hit against the wall. Chernov felt something stabbed into his back, when he looked down he saw a piece of broken copper pipe had impaled him. Even though the pipe was bloody, there wasn't any serious bleeding. Dragovich just missed damaging his liver, but the wound was still close enough to be fatal.

"You good for nothing two year old," Dragovich taunt, "You just don't quit, do you?"

"We green smurfs fight to the death." said Chernov as he grabbed the pipe to balance himself.

"More sophisticated than I thought, all those green smurfs, your own family. They all died for what cost?"

"That's just the way life is, how can you expect Mother Nature to be merciful on us?"

"You gotten this far yourself, but to the looks of you it appeared that this wasn't the first time you had been impaled."

"My luck is bound to run out sooner or later, even though I reach a sudden end doesn't mean I can't embrace it."

Dragovich pulled out a small metallic box, "Well then, just in case you do survive. I managed to copy as much data this place contain. I don't really hate you, but I do respect you. The history of this place won't be totally forgotten if your comrades find your corpse."

He stuck the small box into Chernov's breast pocket, then picked up Chernov's gun before heading towards the door, "See you, Reznov."

Without warning, Sergei appeared out of the shadows. Armed with the magnum that incapacitated him, he fired a few shots into Dragovich's chest. He fired back, striking him in the thigh and shoulder. Dragovich gripped his more painful bullet wounds as he stood over his long time friend, "You shouldn't have come, my friend."

"I'm sorry." said Sergei.

"No Sergei, I'm sorry for putting you in this situation. You've accomplished your objective I had presented to you, tell Colonel Izotov that I'm sorry too."

Awhile he was distracted, Chernov looked around for something he can used. There, a loose cord that seemed to be tossed aside, just up against the wall. It was really long, it must be anchored well, whatever the cord was supposed to be attached to. Chernov pulled himself free from the pipe and grabbed the loose cord, he charged at Dragovich and used his body to knock him onto the glass floor. It cracked even more as Chernov pinned Dragovich in, "It's not about staying alive," he said as he wrapped the cord around Dragovich's neck, "It's about choosing how to die, Adrian."

Chernov lifted up Dragovich's shoulders and smashed his back against the glass, the glass floor shattered, swallowing the two smurfs down it's long shaft.

**. . .**

The skylight exploded in a thousand pieces, Rick turned to see Chernov holding onto a red smurf as he fell through the ceiling. There was a cord wrapped around the red smurf's neck, it tightened and his neck cracked from the sudden stopped. The cord broke at the top connection and the two smurfs flopped onto the glass covered floor, "Holy sh*t." said Rick as he rushed to Chernov's side.

He saw blood pouring out of a wound in his stomach, Chernov's leg was also bent the wrong way from the fall. It was all too much to take in, "Chernov," called out Rick as the rest of the squad surrounds them, "Chernov!"

"I'm awake," said Chernov, "There, I killed Dragovich. See for yourself."

"Whoa," said Tesla, "That's the General of the Red Smurf Army? He fits the way I imagined him!"

"Guys," said Chad, "He's bleeding badly, we gotta get him outta here!"

"Sergei's still up there," said Chernov, "He's mortally wounded, but he's still alive. We gotta-"

Without warning, everyone heard two dings. They turned and saw a pair of sliding doors slid open, Sergei came walking out on his own, "Turns out there's an elevator guys. Call for help now!"

The group got together and tried to stabilize the two smurf's conditions, as they were tending to their wounds Rick approached Dragovich's body and began to search him. Most of his pockets were empty, but he did find a single piece of paper in his pocket. Rick opened it up to see what it says, "Um Chernov," said Rick, "I think there's a note on Dragovich's body addressed to you."

"What does it say?"

"It says, _Please take care of Sergei, he means a lot to me. _Dragovich signed it himself alright."

"If that's his last wish, we best honor it. Always respect your enemy, since we can't be enemies forever."

The squad managed to carry Chernov and Sergei away, as they leave Rick took delivery of dragging Dragovich's body out of the place. After wrapping the cord around the red smurf's shoulders, he dragged him out of the building and followed the squad out. There, they were greeted by a smurfvee. They managed to get Chernov, Sergei, and an injured Lizzy into the vehicle as it finished unloading a few occupants. Once loaded, Rick watched the driver carried the two out of the underground lab and vanished when he drove out of the room, "Okay guys," said Rick, "Let's clean up this place before we leave, leave nothing untouched."

"I'll call in more troops." said Tesla.

"Okay, let's see what there is to salvage here in the meantime."

****END OF ACT III****


	47. Epilogue: Chapter XLVII

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that were created by someone else**

**Claimer: Go to my profile to view my characters**

_Epilogue: Chapter XLVII_

About a week after the Battle of Mt. Kleiner Fub, Chernov recovered from his injuries. To much of the green smurf doctor's dismay, they can't do much surgery on him. On Sergei however, they gladly fixed him up despite the odds against him. Still weak from his injuries, Sergei remain in the hospital bed for the time being. For Lizzy, the doctors extracted the bullet out of her leg and stitched the wound shut, she was out of the hospital within a day.

As Chernov walked towards the Command Center, he limped on his leg slightly. Even though the injury had healed, walking on it wasn't the same. The way it was twisted and bent had damaged the tendons and other vital muscles controlling the leg, even though they had fully healed the tendons healed in a slightly different place. It will take Chernov some therapy sessions to relearn how to full walk again, for now, he was glad that the fighting was all over. During his recovery, the doctors wouldn't let anybody see him. Not even Rachael, Cherskey, and Nelly. This was going to be the first time anybody would ever see him.

When he walked inside the Command Center, Papa Smurf, Rick, Izotov, Smurfette, Chad, and Grandpa Smurf were there, "How you're doing Chernov?" asked Papa Smurf.

"I was doing fine until I got out of bed." he wisecracked.

"Not a morning person?" asked Colonel Izotov.

"I'm nocturnal, I always sleep half the day away everyday."

Chernov pulled up a chair and sat at the round table, "So, was there anything I missed?"

"Colonel Peter Nikolai surrendered," said Colonel Izotov, "Just a couple days after the battle, along with his own forces. When they were fully integrated into my command, Nikolai committed suicide by hanging himself in the POW camp. I guess he couldn't take it anymore."

"That just leaves you?"

"Da, just me. Since I'm the most senior official of General Dragovich's advisers, I am now _General _of the Red Smurf Army. Might as well spend my next 200 years fixing up the mess Adrian made, even though he tried to kill me I'm going to miss him. He wasn't the same person as he once was."

"Maybe he was still the same person, we did find a note in his pocket saying to take care of Sergei when he's gone. Dragovich had accepted his fate, he probably waited to die at the proper moment since he knew he was finished."

"I ran a similar conclusion when I read his diaries, couldn't fully grasp what his plan really was, nor was I'm able to find out how he was able to make those accurate predictions. It might take years before we crack his secret code."

Chernov turned towards Papa Smurf, "How's Brainy, Paps?"

"He's doing fine," said Papa Smurf, "He couldn't remember what happened, all he knew was he was under a spell. After I told him what happened, he simply shrugged, saying it was bound to happen sooner or later. I think he got that quote from you Chernov."

"He probably did," Chernov turned towards Smurfette, "How's Rachael doing?"

"She had an emotional fit," said Smurfette, "The way she cried and sobbed, it was greater than any smurf had done before. I was surprised, she thought you were gonna die again."

"How did my children reacted?"

"Nelly had a similar reaction, but Cherskey took it well. He didn't show much emotion at all."

"He got that from me, I call it the _Square One _reaction. When you realize the family you help create was wiped out, you get shot back to Square One, that kind of thing."

"That explains a lot."

Chernov sat up in his chair, "Now how is everyone else doing?"

"Cuddles had adjusted well," said Chad, "Since she couldn't communicate verbally well, it's going to be difficult for things in the long term. But so far, everything turned out alright."

"Well then, let's get started on the treaty negotiations."

The smurfs began with the green and red, even though the green smurfs had captured so much red smurf territory they do not have the manpower available to occupy it all. So Chernov did the most generous thing, he suggest all sides turn over land to pre-war boundaries. _General _Izotov agreed, the fight between the green and red smurfs was declared a tie.

For the blue smurfs, at least 15 green smurfs are to be posted at the Smurf Village for protection. Chernov will get to choose who will be guarding the colony, since he know that randomly selecting green smurfs to guard a precious jewel is a recipe for disaster. All green smurfs posted, of course, will remain under Chernov's command and will continue to obey green smurf laws/ common sense. Though Papa Smurf argued about that clause for a moment, but Chernov talked him out of it, simply saying that it would be no use for green smurfs to obey blue smurf laws. Sic, recipe for disaster.

The red smurfs got the best and worse of the deal, all green smurf POWs captured by the red smurfs are to be released unharmed. Red smurf POWs in green smurf captivity however will have to go through a vigorous psychological test before they're to be released. Red smurfs who proved to be kind and friendly will be let go, others who have an uncontrollable temper and being an asshole were to remain in prison. If the red smurfs are too difficult to be controlled, they are to be shot by a firing squad. Papa Smurf didn't like it, but he couldn't object, since it was between the green and red smurfs. The red smurfs who passed the psychological test will be turned over to General Izotov's command, what he'll do with them is up to him.

For ambassadors, Sergei will be representing the red smurfs at the Green Smurf Colony. Chernov will serve as the ambassador for GSC in the Smurf Village, a position he always held. For the blue smurfs' representations, Smurfette agreed to be the blue smurfs' ambassador for GSC. Chernov knew that will delight a lot of green smurfs, though Rachael would be a bit bummed about it.

To make sure that the red smurfs won't pull another stunt like this on the Smurf Village, Papa Smurf, pressured by Chernov, declared a red smurf free zone around the Village for about a year. No ambassadors, no visitors, nothing from the red smurfs until the end of the war's 1st year anniversary. Izotov didn't object or anything, he agreed that the blue smurfs would need to cool down before trading operations would begin.

The final, and most crucial part, of the treaty regards technology. The green smurfs were willing to give gold and other goods to the red smurfs as long as they provide them with machinery and books, a bit unusual in Izotov's opinion but he'll do as requested. The blue smurfs will get a good portion of technology as well, the Smurf Village will be upgraded with green smurf electrical and plumbing appliances. A modernization of the blue smurfs' way of life, and this time there's no going back. The return of the smurfmobile, a green smurf version of the telesmurf, and the green smurfs' computer internet infrastructures will be installed. It would take months before they're all fully implemented.

"Looks like we reached an agreement." said Grandpa Smurf.

"We did," said Izotov, "It's a deal."

All sides shook hands and the leaders signed the _Treaty of GSC_, with the agreements wrapped up Chernov got up from the table and head towards the door, "Where you going Chernov?" asked Rick.

"I promised Rachael a vacation," said Chernov, "I'm going to fulfill it before I die for real."

"Good luck on that," said Izotov, "Make it romantic."

"Oh Chernov." said Papa Smurf.

Chernov swung around to face him, "Yeah?"

"Thanks for your support throughout all this, how can I repay you?"

"Leave me alone for a few weeks, you smurfs are too much trouble around this time of the year."

Grandpa Smurf laughed, "You should have seen Papa Smurf when he was a smurfling."

"Don't get him started on that, Grandpa." said Papa Smurf.

Something dinged inside Chernov's head, "Oh, almost forgot something."

Chernov pulled out the metal box Dragovich gave him and handed it to Papa Smurf, "I pretty much copied everything stored in this USB device and uploaded it to the Green Smurf Archives, I've seen pretty much about everything stored in here. It's about time you know the truth of the green smurf race, Papa Smurf. Show it to your little smurfs; Rick, Chad, get some of your friends and set up a movie system at the Smurf Village so they can view what's in that device."

"Okay," said Rick, "Where did you get it by the way?"

"Dragovich, he stuck it in my pocket when I was impaled, saying that dying with the knowledge of our species' history is worth more than any other respect. I personally agree with him."

"Well then, I'll go get the projector and a bed sheet and drive on over to the colony."

"I have to leave," said Izotov, "I would love to watch this with you, but I have the _other _Dragovich to attend to. He's not taking the loss of his higher-ranking cousin very well."

"Okay," said Chernov, "I'll see you in the near future if I last that long."

**. . .**

All the smurfs took their seats on pre-positioned logs as the projector screen was set up, the green smurfs in charged of the Smurf Village's protection were at the far back, either leaning or sitting lazily on whatever they could find. Papa Smurf got front seat, along with Smurfette and Grandpa Smurf. Chad sat at the far right at the front with Cuddles, who was eager to be with him. Lizzy sat with Rick, the two were holding hands and were holding each other close together. Tesla managed to get everything set up, though he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. With the setting sun away from the screen, there should be no ambient light affecting it whatsoever.

"Okay, it should run." he announced.

The screen lit up with a normal blue color from the projector's light, Tesla took his seat behind Rick as Gizmo scooted to make room. All 105 smurfs looked on, amazed at the size of the screen. It had been awhile since they had ever seen anything similar, "With all the background stories I have ever heard," said Papa Smurf, "This may be the most detailed and well documented ever."

"All it took was the will of a single human being," said Rick, "And he had it all recorded."

Without warning, the screen instantly became filled with a lot of blue smurfs wearing the familiar white clothing. As Cherskey and Nelly managed to snuggle up beside Smurfette, the screen shifted to the background, revealing Mt. Kleiner Fub along with its iconic statue. It looked a lot newer then, maybe it had regular maintenance at the time. The blue smurfs appeared to be leaving the entrance of the mountain complex on foot, Papa Smurf counted them as they come out and got well over a hundred. He knew they weren't his smurfs, they all had 5 fingers, not 4.

"This is Johnathon Demetrius Reznov," said a voice, "Project Wunderwaffe is taken to full swing, here we have the first artificial species created using the latest advances of human technology. Though I agree that these genetically-engineered smurfs do not look like their half-brother prototype, they are close by blood as they'll ever be. I once considered placing these little devils near the Smurf Village, but realized that's a disaster waiting to happen. So they'll be located about 10 kilometers away, just enough space for my... children, do their own thing and not interfere with their pure-blooded kind. But there's no stopping them if they'll ever fiddle around with their business. It's only a matter of time."

"And we are now." said Rick.

Several green smurfs at the back chuckled in response to Rick's joke. The video moved on and displayed several other video and audio logs about the process of Reznov's smurfs. He went on experimenting with his little ones about what foods they like, living conditions, and self-defense. To his eyes, they exceeded his expectations. As he talks, the videos often show the blue smurfs walk around, sometimes in circles. He stated that their lunacy will subside after a few weeks, "Not all creatures adapt fast to having information downloaded into their skulls," he explained, "God that was a difficult operation."

The next several videos showed the blue smurfs building what soon will become the Green Smurf Colony, they were carving out roads to travel and digging the first primitive spiderholes to live in. All this by simply using hand, there was a time lapse showing the smurfs working from day to night without stop. Reznov announced their will to work was incredible, yet a video showed the blue smurfs sleeping on the ground in a lazy fashion. The audience can't bear to laugh at some parts, as they were either talking in their sleep or acting out what they were dreaming.

More footage went on as the smurfs continued to build ingenious ways of living, they were all putting furniture together along with making farming areas to grow crops, "It appears that the traits of all 100 smurfs had fused into each of my smurfs," said Reznov, "If my theory is correct, the combination of Hefty's strength plus my family's superhuman capability would give my smurfs the strength similar to an ant... or maybe even a spider."

Reznov called over his little smurfs and placed a huge rock before them, he then asked them to lift it. One smurf tried to lift it, the rock jolted and shift but it didn't leave the ground. But soon all the other smurfs pitched in, without much effort they raised the rock high above their heads and tossed it on it's top, "Theory confirmed." Reznov announced.

After some more footage of the smurfs building their infrastructure, the mood began to change, "What is going on here," Reznov asked himself as he approached his fellow offspring, "What are you guys...? Oh..."

The camera zoomed up onto a single smurf, his sky blue skin showed it was cracked and flaky from head to toe. The smurf was peeling off some of his skin right around his left wrist, after pulling back a little bit more skin a grass green color revealed itself from underneath. Stretching out his left arm, he took his right hand and grabbed a portion of skin with his palm, then pulled back. The signature skin color of the green smurfs revealed itself as the old sky blue skin was peeled back, the smurfs watching the scene were silent, they just looked on with a mixture of amazement and horror. The green smurfs were even more amazed at this, the looks on their faces says it all.

The old skin was ripped off when it was peeled back to the crook of the elbow, the smurf examined it for awhile, even sniffed it, "If this was thicker, I would make leather out of this."

Everyone knew that voice, the smurf in the video was Rick, "What's your name, son?" asked Reznov.

"I don't have a name." said the smurf.

"How about Richard, you think that's a good name?"

The Rick in the video footage smiled, "Yeah, that's a good name!"

After seeing the footage of himself, Rick looked at his own left arm before looking back at the screen, "How come I don't remember this?" he thought aloud.

"Guys!" screamed another voice.

The camera shot away from Rick and positioned itself around three other smurfs, their skins were also peeling away. One of the smurfs, who appeared slightly shorter than the others, had his pants stretched out, he appeared quite shock, "This doesn't look the same as yesterday!" he announced.

"What happened?" asked one of the smurfs on the scene.

"What can you tell from this, Chad?" he asked.

Seeing the situation unfolding itself for a second time, Chad jumped out of his seat, "I remember this, don't look!"

Everyone looked anyway as they saw his younger self looked into his pants, "Looks like your groin ate your dildo."

The green smurfs in the back laughed as hard as they can, several blue smurfs laughed as well. Chad felt embarrassed at that, but the audience really got going at what happened next, "Can you fix it?" the short smurf asked.

The younger Chad shrugged, "I'll try."

He gave the short smurf a sharp kick in the crotch, the short smurf yelped as he collapsed onto the ground. Once the audience were laughing their heads off, Lizzy shot up and pointed a finger at Chad, "So it was _you _who kicked me in the crotch!"

"You remember that too?" asked Chad, unable to contain his smile.

"Yeah, I never forgot!"

"Did it work?" said the younger Lizzy on the screen.

The younger Chad approached, "Let's see."

She got back onto her feet and showed him her groin again, "Nope!"

Chad gave her another kick in the crotch, this time Reznov can be heard laughing from behind the camera, "This reminds me of my own brothers and sisters." he commented.

Eventually the screen moved on to another clip, now the smurfs were almost entirely green. The footage showed several of the smurfs inspecting their own scalps, patches of hair were starting to grow. Seeing that they're finally getting hair, one smurf took off white smurf hat and tossed it aside. Then the others took off their hats and tossed them over their shoulder in a rebellious move, "Okay," said Reznov, "I got you guys some new clothes, hope they fit."

"They should," said one smurf, whose stomach appeared slightly larger than the others, "My pants don't seem to fit anymore."

A large cardboard box was placed before the smurfs, it was tipped over, dumping out its contents onto the ground. They were camouflage pants, dresses, smurf hats, and dark green overalls. The smurfs began to rummage through the clothes to pick out what they like, "Get the clothes suited for your gender," said Reznov, "Just for the sake of pronouns. If you don't feel comfortable in the designated gender's clothes, put on a pair of dark green overalls."

Once the smurfs picked out clothes they like, they began to strip naked. Reznov wisely pulled the camera away, just enough so that the box covered up all visual of the smurfs as they change. After a short moment, several green smurfs emerged dressed in camouflage clothing from their designated gender. Those who don't seemed comfortable with their designated gender clothes emerge wearing dark green overalls. They now look just like the green smurfs today, despite the lack of full hair and a few patches of sky blue skin left, "We're starting to be an original smurf species now," said one of the smurfs, "Hmm, original..."

"Streaker," screamed a smurf, "There's a streaker!"

The camera pulled away from the group of smurfs, just in time to see a naked smurf with short blond hair get tackled by several other smurfs, "Why Sally, why!" asked one of the smurfs.

"It feels like I'm flying!" said Sally.

"And she still wears mens' pants," said Chad as he shifted in his log seat, "Rings a bell anyone."

The audience agreed as the scene changed again, this time the smurfs were now fully green with a full set of human hair. They sat there at a bench and socialize as Reznov kept the camera trained on them, "Half human, half smurf. The hybrid smurfs, or green smurfs, are completely different from their pure blooded counterparts now. They have hair, 5 fingers, their torsos more cylinder than pear-shaped. Well, the females still contain the familiar pair-shaped torso, I do not know why at this point but I'll learn soon enough."

"This is odd." said a green smurf.

"What?" asked another.

The green smurf was slightly wider than the other smurfs, he was pressing on his belly to feel it, "Feel it."

The other green smurfs touched it as well, "A bit plush." one commented.

A green smurfette sitting at the far corner of the table looked on, she had blond hair and was wearing a pair of dark green overalls and a camouflage smurf at, "Hmm," she said, "I wonder what it feels like under my skin."

Reznov snickered, "From all the things you discovered thus far, discovering your own body fat is your most curious find."

"Body fat?" asked the green smurfette.

"It's when you eat enough food, you store the excess calories in reserve for a later time. Often the body fat comes by genetics, others just from appetite."

The look on her face showed that she was coming up with some ideas, Smurfette took one good look at the footage and laughed, "Rachael, that's so Rachael."

The green smurfs snickered to themselves, luckily she wasn't here at the moment to comment this.

The screen suddenly changed and revealed the entire area of GSV 1 when it became officially GSV 1. Several primitive smurfmobiles were here and there, lighting was being installed at the time. The scene was a piece of history alright, "Chernov," said Reznov as the camera was remained trained on the colony, "These are your half-brothers and half-sisters."

"They seemed to be half-wits," said Chernov's voice, "But, how can I blame them? We are a new species, we are young and we know little of the world. I'll give it a year, before I start disciplining them for their random stupidity."

"You're taking the news quite well then."

"Being the leader of my own kind, like Papa Smurf with his own smurfs? Sure, a hundred is fine, but a thousand? Had they learn how to reproduce yet?"

"Yup, and they're sure enjoying it."

The green smurfs in the back of the audience laughed, "We enjoy it alright!" blurted out a green smurf.

That made everyone laugh, but only for a brief moment until, "They just don't stop masturbating in those outhouses." muttered Reznov.

The green smurfs laughed extremely hard, yet the blue smurfs failed to grasp the term, "What is masturbation?" asked Smurfette to Papa Smurf.

"I have no clue at all." said Papa Smurf.

"Dad told me what masturbation is," said Cherskey, he smiled and sat back against Smurfette, "Big mistake."

"The only way these green smurfs would mature is where they start getting old," said Chernov on the screen, "What's the lifespan?"

"A hundred years." said Reznov.

"A blink of an eye for a blue smurfs' lifespan."

"That's why they reproduce. Some of them began to die now, all of which were completely accidental. One green smurf accidentally struck another green smurf with the back of a logging ax in the head and killed him. When there's a death, comes knowledge, as the green smurfs were curious on what their insides look like."

"Which led to these crude diagrams of their anatomy pictures."

"You probably realize by now that where there's life, there's death. Had you been feeding yourself well these days?"

"I'd been killing the local rodents for meat, had planted a garden for the other food groups. Somehow I don't feel like eating at all, or I feel sick in the process."

"I have similar problems myself, but that's no big deal since I have everything well managed. One day, you'll might kill another creature that can speak it's mind. Normally, for first timers, it's going to be hard. But for you, the super soldier genes seemed to had forbid that gilt. Did you struggle when you kill small rodents?"

"No, I cut them clean in the neck and put them out of their misery in a snap. Though with firearms, that buys me more time for other things, like figuring out how to preserve the food for the winter."

"Those skills might help you when you start running this colony in some way or another, can you promise me this?"

"What is it?"

"Promise me to keep the green smurfs from corrupting the blue smurfs, if that happens then it will ensure some form of extinction."

Chernov didn't respond right away, "I don't think I can hold onto that promise for very long."

"Only break it when the Green Smurf Colony really takes off or when the blue smurfs are ready. This is all your friends and family, they may frustrate you, even make you actually beat them to a pulp, but they'll love you and stand by your side no matter what."

"My generosity has it's limits though."

"All generosities have their limits, just do your best so nobody complains. Perform those simple duties, and you'll be rewarded with the next generation."

"Another headache to deal with."

Reznov laughed, "You considered having children yourself, you know you can breed with your half-siblings just as fine."

"I need time to consider," said Chernov, "This is a dangerous world after all."

"Do how I do it: When they get old enough to take care of themselves, just kick them out of the house."

"I'm still emotional about that day, Dad."

"I know, but I can't provide for you forever."

Chernov started to exaggerate, "I understand that, it's the way you did it that got me upset. I mean, you were a bit harsh."

"I can't let myself drag you down, you have enough things to worry about. I've fulfilled my purpose, accomplish those goals and you'll find yourself at peace."

"What about smurf warfare, what if there's ever a war?"

"Don't worry Chernov, I'll help you get started in fighting your first war. But for later wars, you'll have to do it on your own. I know you can do it."

"I must be a sucker for destiny."

"Your destiny will be remarkably short for it to be accomplished, mine took years Chernov, a lot harder than what you've just experienced. As much as I love you, share that love with your siblings and be a father-figure to them. Don't make me proud, make the world proud. I'll be long gone by the time the green smurfs reach a level where they might explore outer space."

"I'll do my best Dad."

"I know you will, son."

Even though the camera didn't showed them directly, it was enough for the smurfs to cry. Papa Smurf stood up and walked away, "I've seen enough, I... I need to sleep this off."

"I do too." said Smurfette.

Eventually everyone got up and left as the screen went blue, though there was a lot more data there Tesla had the system programmed to show the most interesting information. Tesla pulled out the box from the computer and handed it to Rick, "Time to go home guys." said Tesla.

"Sure." said Rick.

"Give me a second Rick." said Lizzy.

"Okay.

"Oh Chad?"

Chad turned around and looked at Lizzy, "Yeah?"

Without warning, Lizzy kicked Chad hard in the crotch. He went into a fetal position as he collapsed onto the ground, moaning from pain and embarrassment, "Owww," Chad moaned, "Payback hurts."

The nearby smurfs laughed as Chad struggled back onto his feet, Cuddles, who had no idea what happened, helped Chad up and led him towards the smurfvees with the other high-ranking green smurfs, "Friend." she cooed.

"Yup," said Chad, "A friend indeed.

**. . .**

"It's beautiful Chernov," said Rachael, "I never knew this place ever existed."

"I brought the kids here one time," said Chernov, "I thought you would like it as well."

Before them was entire landscape below, the setting sun was just above the tree line. It helped illuminate the forest with some sort of magic, night time crawlers began to chirp their mating calls, which echo down below the foot of the small hill. Chernov and Rachael were wearing nothing but their underpants, their clothes were tossed aside in a single pile. Chernov was convinced that the secluded location would give them all the privacy they need, though he wasn't quite sure when General Izotov will move into the abandoned outpost yet.

"I thought you nearly died twice already," said Rachael, "Yet you still live and worry me during the entire time."

"I don't die too easily," said Chernov, "But I'm not pushing my luck anymore, this world is just bad enough."

"It's now safer with the red smurf threat removed, and we also got new trading partners as well."

"Trading partners, I'm eager to see what kind of literature they have."

"It's a long ways off though."

"Probably."

Chernov wrapped his arm around Rachael's shoulders and she snuggled up beside him, "With the kids growing up," he said, "We may be on our own again."

Rachael turned and look at him, "Can we have another child?"

A part of Chernov's brain melted at the sound of that, "Another child?"

"Yeah, another child."

"After all this, you want to have another child? This is just like the last war, where-"

"That was on your part Chernov, this time it's on my part."

Chernov sighed, "Okay then, but not twins this time. Just one, make it a girl too."

"What do you want to name this girl?" asked Rachael.

"I'll name her Angela, but if she turned out to be a boy, I'll name him Alan. Once he's matured enough, we try again."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Nope, that's winging it."

Chernov grabbed a beer bottle that was sitting next to him and jugged it, he then tossed it into the growing pile of beer bottles, shattering it in the process, "Okay, let's get started."

****THE END!****


End file.
